Comelec prodded to finish biometrics voter’s listing
AMITA LEGASPI, GMANews.TV
01/02/2009 | 01:43 PM
MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr on Friday blasted the Commission on Elections for failing to complete the biometric registration of voters, which he said could stop unscrupulous politicians from cheating their way to victory.
Pimentel cited a report by the Comelec that half of registered voters have yet to be covered by the biometric listing. He said only 24 million of the 48 million Filipino voters have been included in the biometric list.
The poll body started the biometric registration in 2004 at a cost of P1 billion.
"The biometric process would eliminate the possibility of one and the same person being registered in many precincts and, therefore, [would prevent a flying voter] to vote so many times," Pimentel said in a press statement.
The senator said flying voters remain a serious problem in the country's electoral system, which should not be underestimated or ignored by poll authorities.
He said it is through this foul tactic that unscrupulous and corrupt politicians cheated their way to victory and kept themselves in power. He said this is made possible through the connivance of dishonest election officials.
"It is very important that we get the cleansing process of the voters going and finished. The Comelec has started to do that sometime in the past and I really hope that they will be able to accomplish the objective of providing every precinct with a clean list of voters," Pimentel said.
He said the completion of the listing is needed in order for the country to start correctly on the right foot from the very process of getting to the polls and casting votes.
At the same time, the senator lauded the Comelec for its plan to require its field officials all over the country to conduct house-to-house counter-checking of voters.
He said, theoretically, the house-to-house verification appears to be a sound approach to ferret out flying voters.
However, he is not sure whether the Comelec has enough personnel to do it.
Pimentel said it might be more practical for election authorities to undertake random counter-checking of households, especially in areas where there are an unusually huge number of registered voters.
He said the Comelec should also act fast on complaints or reports of the existence of flying voters in certain areas.
Pimentel claimed that he was cheated of victory in the 1995 senatorial election through dagdag-bawas (vote padding-vote shaving) operations. He said the same fraud happened to his son Aquilino III in the 2007 senatorial polls.
Pimentel III's electoral protest against Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri is pending before the Senate Electoral Tribunal. - GMANews.TV
Pimentel cited a report by the Comelec that half of registered voters have yet to be covered by the biometric listing. He said only 24 million of the 48 million Filipino voters have been included in the biometric list.
The poll body started the biometric registration in 2004 at a cost of P1 billion.
"The biometric process would eliminate the possibility of one and the same person being registered in many precincts and, therefore, [would prevent a flying voter] to vote so many times," Pimentel said in a press statement.
The senator said flying voters remain a serious problem in the country's electoral system, which should not be underestimated or ignored by poll authorities.
He said it is through this foul tactic that unscrupulous and corrupt politicians cheated their way to victory and kept themselves in power. He said this is made possible through the connivance of dishonest election officials.
"It is very important that we get the cleansing process of the voters going and finished. The Comelec has started to do that sometime in the past and I really hope that they will be able to accomplish the objective of providing every precinct with a clean list of voters," Pimentel said.
He said the completion of the listing is needed in order for the country to start correctly on the right foot from the very process of getting to the polls and casting votes.
At the same time, the senator lauded the Comelec for its plan to require its field officials all over the country to conduct house-to-house counter-checking of voters.
He said, theoretically, the house-to-house verification appears to be a sound approach to ferret out flying voters.
However, he is not sure whether the Comelec has enough personnel to do it.
Pimentel said it might be more practical for election authorities to undertake random counter-checking of households, especially in areas where there are an unusually huge number of registered voters.
He said the Comelec should also act fast on complaints or reports of the existence of flying voters in certain areas.
Pimentel claimed that he was cheated of victory in the 1995 senatorial election through dagdag-bawas (vote padding-vote shaving) operations. He said the same fraud happened to his son Aquilino III in the 2007 senatorial polls.
Pimentel III's electoral protest against Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri is pending before the Senate Electoral Tribunal. - GMANews.TV
