CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – A massive disenfranchisement of voters is
looming in vote-rich Nueva Ecija as more than 200,000 registered voters may
lose their right to vote in the 2016 synchronized local and national elections over
their failure to update their voters’ records using the biometrics system
eligibility requirement prescribed by law.
Lawyer Panfilo Doctor
Jr., provincial election supervisor, said that based on latest records from the
Commission on Elections provincial office, a total of 213,141 registered voters
are still without or have incomplete biometrics and thus, are automatically
disqualified to vote.
Doctor said this figure
represents roughly 15 percent of the total number of registered voters in the
province of 1,360,508.
Of the 213,141 voters
without biometrics, this city – the province’s trade and commercial center –
has 63,116 voters or 27 percent of its total of 228,191.
Aside from this city, other
areas with large number of registered voters without or have incomplete
biometrics are San Jose City (21,541 out of 99,179 voters, 20%), Talavera
(15,418 of 77,407, 19%), Guimba (11,188 of 65,384, 17%) and Gapan City
Leo Navarro, city
election officer of this city, said only 165,075 voters have biometrics data.
He said that they have embarked on a massive information campaign in the city’s
89 barangays to prevent the voters’ records from being deactivated for lack of
biometrics.
The mandatory biometrics
registration of voters is provided under Republic Act 10367 signed by President
Aquino on February 15,2013.
Biometrics refer to the
quantitative analysis that provides a positive identification of an individual
such as voice, photograph, fingerprint, signature and other identifiable means.
RA 10367 mandates voters
to undergo “validation” which it defines as the process of taking the biometrics of registered voters whose
biometrics have not yet been captured.
The city and municipal
election officers have been tasked to conduct the validation which started in
July 2013 consistent with the continuing registration specified under Resolution
9853.
In the province, only
7,014 registered voters applied for validation out of the 213,141 who did not
have biometrics, or a measly three percent.
Last May, Comelec
Chairman Sixto Brillantes said 9.6 million registered voters or 18 percent of
the 53 million registered voters nationwide have no biometrics.
The Comelec has stated that the
registration will not be extended and failure of old voters to update their
records through the biometric system would mean they could not exercise their
right to vote in 2016.
The system would not affect new voters
since they will automatically undergo the biometrics process.
The Comelec provincial office said
their personnel have been going to the various barangays of the province to
encourage registered voters to update their records but many would not respond.
Based on the poll body’s records, the
list of areas with recorded biometric deficiency in the voters’ records are the Science City of Muñoz (6,843 of
55,642, 12%), Palayan City (5,311 of 32,668, 16%) and the municipalities of
Aliaga (7,736 of 40,667, 19%), Bongabon (2,865 of 40,919, 7%), Cabiao (3,088 of
43,897, 7%), Carranglan (4,206 of 24,938, 16%), Cuyapo 2,739 of 35,733, 7%),
Gabaldon (1,232 of 19,938, 6%), Gen. Natividad (1,603 of 25,054, 6%), Gen.
Tinio (2,574 of 30,322, 8%), Jaen (627 of 44,792, 0.01%), Laur (2,097 of 20,524,
10%);
Licab (2,055 of 16,662, 12%), Llanera
(2,890 of 24,989, 11%), Lupao (3,557 of 26,668, 13%), Nampicuan (626 of 9,439,
0.06%), Pantabangan (4,141 of 22,304, 18%), Penaranda (1,587 of 20,669, 0.07%),
Quezon (3,048 of 18,834, 16%), Rizal (3,843 of 32,924, 11%), San Antonio (4,939
of 47,511, 10%), San Isidro (1,376 of 27,175, 5%), San Leonardo (4,163 of
35,060, 11%), Sta. Rosa (8,375 of 40,533, 20%), Sto. Domingo (5,922 of 35,874,
16%), Talugtug (769 of 12,734, 0.06%) and Zaragoza
(3,566 of 25,440, 14%). – Manny Galvez
