Comelec uncovers 400,000 double registrants in Metro

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday it has uncovered more than half a million double registrants in Metro Manila and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The poll body had earlier announced that it will be filing criminal charges against 110,000 ARMM residents who have registered more than once in the computerized general registration of voters held last year.

The number apparently rose as Comelec officials uncovered an additional 400,000 double registrants in Metro Manila, bringing the number to over half a million.

Earlier reports from the Comelec indicated that many of the cases of double registration of voters were uncovered in Taguig and some towns in northern Metro Manila.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said that the figure does not include the 20,000 underaged individuals who have also registered in the ARMM and its peripheral provinces.

The announcement came as the Comelec is rushing the final list of voters, which it expects to release on Feb. 10, the official start of the 90-day campaign period for national candidates.

In an earlier interview, Abalos said that the multiple registrations were found by a team of French computer experts who scanned the fingerprints of ARMM registrants stored in the agency’s data capturing machine.

The erring registrants in the ARMM, reportedly roughly a 10th of the region’s total number of qualified voters, were mostly from the two Lanao provinces, Maguindanao, Cotabato City and Zamboanga City. Some reportedly arrived on board motorized bancas when they listed up last year.

"They will be charged. The whole commission will be back (in Mindanao) and sit en banc for the investigation before the formal filing of charges," Abalos told reporters during a briefing at the Garden Orchid Hotel here yesterday.

He added that their names will also be delisted from the servers.

"Once the case will be filed, they would be arrested," Abalos said.

If found guilty, double registrants face a one-year jail term without probation.

If implemented, this will be the first time that the Comelec will pursue a case in court against double or multiple registrants, a perennial problem in every election.

However, the Comelec announced that erring registrants can still be cleared of the charges if they can present an affidavit citing that "their double registration was not done in purpose."

Abalos said an investigation would be conducted to determine if there are political parties or certain individuals who are backing those who have registered twice or more.

"Let this people (double registrants) testify against them," Abalos said.

Last year’s computerized registration of voters was held in preparation for the May 2004 elections, which were supposed to be the first computerized polls in the country.

However, the Supreme Court nullified last month the P1.249-billion contract awarded by Comelec to Mega Pacific Consortium for poll computerization, prompting the poll body to shift preparations to manual voting and counting at the last minute.

Abalos, however, assured the public yesterday that they are right on schedule in their ongoing preparations for the May 10 polls despite the pressing issues that hounded the commission recently.

Aside from the setback brought about by the High Court’s decision, the Comelec was also beset with other problems such as the retirement of commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco and Ralph Lantion early this week and the threat of its employees to stage a mass action over non-payment of salaries and other benefits due to funding problems. Preparations for the May polls are also being hampered by delayed fund releases.

Abalos, however, assured that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will release on Thursday P239 million to address all the requirements of the manual elections nationwide.

He also said that he and another member of the commission will temporarily fill the positions vacated by Lantion and Tancangco until Malacañang appoints their official replacements.

"We are right on target of holding the election, sila lang naman ang nagkakaproblema (they are the only ones with problems). So far, the problems have been addressed accordingly," Abalos said.

Abalos held a closed-door meeting with regional, provincial, city and municipal election officials here to address probable problems that may affect the conduct of the election in Central and Western Mindanao, where there are many "areas of concern."

Abalos identified certain areas in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the ARMM as perennial hot spots during elections.

He attributed this to intense rivalry between forces like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Abu Sayyaf, and remnants of the Misuari Breakaway Group.

In his meeting with local Comelec officials here, Abalos also discussed the preparation of the certificates of voters list, the covenant of the opposition and the standing order not to hold elections in military and police camps to erase doubts from the opposition.