'ARMM voters' re-registration has to be closely monitored'

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday underscored the need to closely monitor the voters’ re-registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to prevent the “hakot” system employed by politicians.

Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph said they have to prepare for the possibility that even non-ARMM residents will be made to register in the region to manipulate the results of the May 2013 midterm elections.

Yusoph said there should be more military and police personnel that have to be assigned in the region to oversee the re-registration and maintain peace and order.

“There is always that assumption of risk. Mas dapat bantayan (The more it should be guarded) because the supposed candidates will be preparing themselves for the 2013 elections so they will do everything to have their people registered,” he added.

The Comelec earlier had opposed calls to purge the 1.7-million voters’ lists in ARMM and to conduct a general re-registration in the region.

But the poll body gave in after the Senate committees on electoral reforms and people’s participation and finance passed a joint resolution this week, invalidating the ARMM voters’ list.

The resolution provides for the budget and for the suspension of the ongoing voters’ registration in non-ARMM areas to enable the Comelec to focus its resources on the region.

Yusoph said there is a possibility that some politicians will employ the “hakot” system wherein they will bring people to register, including those who are not residents of ARMM.

To prevent this irregular practice, he said checkpoints should be set up to block non-ARMM residents from registering as voters.

Aside from this, there will also be “post-verification” of the ARMM registrants to make sure that there are no double or multiple registrations.  

“It has been my dream that the elections in ARMM will be clean and acceptable to the people. Personally even before (or) prior to the approval of the resolution, (I was in favor of having) a general registration to cleanse these lists of voters in the ARMM because we have been tagged as the ‘cheating capital of the Philippines’ and we should erase this misconception in our region,” Yusoph said.