MANILA -- Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez on Tuesday urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to "cleanse" the current list of voters first, before accepting new applicants.
 
During a hearing of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, Gomez explained why "double registrants" and voters who have already passed away must first be removed from the list.
 
"The reason why I filed this resolution is because I was hoping that before we start collecting or accepting new applicants, sana ma-clear muna natin itong mga certified list of voters natin. Otherwise, maiiwanan na naman ito... After elections na naman ito," he said.
 
"In cleansing also, ang dami ng mga - I'm talking about my own district - deceased individuals pero nandoon pa rin sa voters' list: meron tayong mga double registration, or iyong mga nag-asawa, nag-change of name pero naka-register in two different areas. Ang daming problemang ganyan. And then magrereklamo ang mga tao na may flying voter... So linisin muna natin ito bago tayo mag-accept ng bagong applicants," Gomez added.
 
Atty. Rafael Olano, Comelec deputy executive director for operations, said he will raise the issue to their office, as voter registration already started Feb. 12.
 
He explained that the current system can capture multiple biometrics to help resolve the issue on double registrants.
 
"With respect to those who are dead, we have a problem with this because if the registrant died other than his [or her] place of residence, we will not be notified of his or her death. So most of the time, hindi namin natatanggal ito," he said.
 
"That is why we have a plan to have a coordination with the PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority) so that they can give us the list of deceased individuals nationwide. So that wherever the deceased are registered, we can already transmit or send their certificate[s] of death to the place where the deceased are registered," he added.
 
Director Jeannie Florita from Comelec's Information Technology Department said around 400,000 duplicates have already been deleted from the voters' list.
 
"After ma-release ang duplicates sa election officers, cinompare po namin iyong list na ginamit sa BSKE doon po sa existing sa amin, ang result po is nabura naman lahat ng duplicate except doon sa 70,000 na may reasons po of not deleting their records," she said.
 
"Magkapatid, magkaiba ang record. Pero during the investigation, during the capturing, iyong fingerprint ng isa, nalagay din doon sa isa. Iyong mga ganoong reasons po. Lumalabas nagparehas sila ng fingerprints pero different persons," she added.
 
Is it possible to transfer Comelec election officers and regional directors who have become "too familiar" with their respective areas' local officials?
 
Gomez raised this, as he shared: "Region 8 is very notorious when it comes to electoral violations. A lot of landmark cases ng Comelec, karamihan nasa Region 8. Karamihan naririnig ko nangyayari, ang daming hindi tinatanggap ng election officer sa mga lokal nila kapag alam nila na iyong kalaban nila ay iyong mga taong nagpaparehistro. So iyong familiarity."
 
Olano replied: "If there are allegations and these are proven as true, we can have the concerned election officer, or regional supervisor, or regional director transferred or reshuffled to another place."
 
Aksyon Demokratiko Chairperson Edgar Erice, a former lawmaker, called on Comelec to be more alert about spotting "red flags" - for example, a surge of voters in a barangay - and to be more "determined to prosecute flying voters".
 
Mountain Province Lone District Rep. Maximo Dalog also asked the poll body to be more "proactive" and not to wait for complaints before acting on possible election offenses.
 
AUTOMATED ELECTIONS
 
Meanwhile, representatives from poll watchdog Kontra Daya and political party Aksyon Demokratiko raised concerns on the use of bidders' prototype machines, including cybersecurity, legal, and voter manipulation issues for the 2025 polls.
 
Florita said "we don't have to worry" as bidders go through rigorous security tests and consultations.
 
Olano also assured that the poll body is "on track" with its timeline.
 
"We have provided in our timeline some sort of allowance so that if ever there are failures in the bidding, we can still have time to have another special bidding process," he said.
 
The poll body added that the post qualification process of bidders for the 2025 poll system is ongoing, and hopes that a recommendation may be submitted to the en banc in the "next two weeks".
 
Open bidding for online voting of OFWs will begin on Feb. 28, with queries received from "about five providers".
 
The joint venture of South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd. is the lone bidder for the 2025 automated election system.
 
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro asked Comelec to submit to the committee the list of those behind the joint venture to ensure that the company is not tainted by corruption.
 
Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) has developed a prototype of a locally-made and "reconfigurable" automated system.
 
DOST-ASTI Dir. Franz De Leon said they are now filing for the intellectual property (IP) protection of the system.
 
He hopes to "pilot this by 2028", and eventually be adopted by a local company as well.