Dead Leyte resident found to be a voter

CEBU, Philippines — A citizen from Barangay Tinabilan in Palompon, Leyte, who reportedly died on August 29, 2014 in Ormoc City, was found to be a voter on October 23, 2017, three years after his death, based on the voter’s certificate issued by the Commission on Elections on March 28, 2025.

To back such a claim, the documents, including a Comelec voter’s certification and a death certificate, have been recently presented by mayoral candidate Dr. Georgina Arevalo during a radio program.

The development raised more concerns ahead of the May 12 elections, especially over reports that at least 1,089 dead citizens are allegedly still on the list of active voters in Palompon.

Moreover, there are also reports of cancellation of valid and living voters, double registrations, and non-resident voters.

On March 3, 2025, citizens from the town’s 43 barangays formally requested Comelec Region VIIl for the cancellation of over a thousand dead citizens, whose names are reportedly still in the voters list. To date, no response has been received from the Comelec.

The residents have formally filed complaints and petitions with the Comelec-VIII for the removal from the municipality’s voters' list of at least 1,021 voters who, according to them, have been confirmed dead.

The citizens, who are from the town’s 43 barangays, said the deaths of the said deceased voters were confirmed through affidavits of community members and/or certifications from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

In a letter to Atty. Maria Corazon S. Montallana, Acting Assistant Regional Election Director of COMELEC Region VIII, dated February 17, 2025, aside from their request to cancel the registrations of 1,021 deceased individuals, they also stated other anomalies, such as the registration of non-resident voters, double registrations, and cancellation of valid voters.

This was not the first attempt to remove dead voters from the voters' list of Palompon. Earlier, 10 election cases were also filed with the Municipal Trial Court of Palompon on February 3, 2025, for the exclusion of dead voters from the voters' list but were dismissed the next day by Judge Delia P. Noel-Bertulfo due to technical reasons, particularly their compliance with the submission deadline.

Motions for reconsideration were filed immediately but were soon after denied. — (FREEMAN)