Bill to cleanse voters' list inching closer to House approval

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives on Thursday night passed on second reading a bill that seeks to cleanse voters’ registration lists and remove entries for double or multiple registrants through the biometric system. Under House Bill 6052, registered voters are required to appear before the election officer of their place of registration so that the officer can capture and record their photographs, fingerprints, and signatures through the biometric method. In passing the bill sponsored by Makati Rep. Teodoro L. Locsin Jr., lawmakers expressed confidence that the biometrics method would ensure that the Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) can be utilized to cleanse the records of double or multiple registrants. Locsin, chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, had earlier said that with the approval of the poll automation budget, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) must implement the listing of voters through the biometric system. House Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. said that once completed, the AFIS can be utilized and the problem brought about by double or multiple registrants would be eliminated. Nograles said that at present, only 23 million of the 48 million registered voters have biometric records. “As a result, the process of cleansing the registration lists of double or multiple registrants through the AFIS cannot be utilized in as much as the individual records against which a person’s own fingerprint record will be matched, remain to be incomplete," he said. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV