The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already began the submitting of instances in opposition to 7,000 of greater than 400,000 people with double or a number of registrations, Comelec Chairman George Garcia mentioned Thursday.
“Pinasimulan na po namin ang pagpa-file ng 7,000 complaints laban sa kanilang lahat. Akala po nila makakaligtas sila. Good faith is not a defense,” Garcia said in a press conference after a consultative meeting in Ilocos Norte on Thursday.
Hopefully po dahan-dahanin namin kasi sa Law Department namin pina-file yon…So lahat po sila ay pa-file-an namin ng kaso. Kanya-kanyang defense na lang po sila. Bahala na sila,” he added.
If they fail to file instances in opposition to these double registrants, Garcia mentioned, the Comelec will nonetheless be blamed for this downside.
He mentioned the ballot physique has seen hundreds of thousands of double registrants since 2010 however they’ll now counter-check this inside two months by way of the automated fingerprint identification system.
These double registrations might be eliminated by the Election Registration Board which can convene earlier than the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), he added.
But Garcia defined that people who’ve double registrations can nonetheless vote however they must face prison prices.
“Hindi por que ang isang tao ay double or multiple registrant ay tanggal lahat ng kanyang registration. Ang pagboto po ay isang karapatan na nakalagay sa Saligang Batas natin. At dahil po ito ay isang constitutional right, may isang matitira na registration at yun ay ang kauna-unahan niyang registration. Laging may natitira po. Hindi siya puwedeng tanggalan ng karapatan bumoto pero haharap siya sa kasong kriminal,” he added.
In May, Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco mentioned the ballot physique would file election offense instances in opposition to people who intentionally commit double registration.
In one in every of Comelec en banc classes, the ballot physique directed the structure of Special Election Registration Boards (SERBs) to take away greater than 400,000 double or a number of registrants that are recognized by way of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).
Laudiangco had mentioned the SERBs will conduct hearings in June nationwide to make sure that the double registrants are abated and voters who transferred their registration had been already deleted from the listing of voters of their earlier voting precincts.
The SERBs can even get updates from the civil registrants to take away the names of the deceased people from the listing of voters and from the courts for the exclusion or inclusion of people whose proper to suffrage are both forfeited or regranted.
Another SERB listening to might be performed in July to take a second have a look at the official listing of voters for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in coordination with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections. — BM, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
