Senator Imee R. Marcos has filed a resolution to conduct an inquiry into the alleged fraudulent voters’ registration for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in October.
Despite earnest efforts of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to enforce the law, Marcos stressed that problems about so-called flying voters–or voters who are registered in multiple precincts and those who are not bona fide residents of the place where they are registered in–still persist.
The resolution cited a report on March 31, 2022, saying that the Comelec detected 892,627 double registrations for the 2022 National and Local Elections.
Then Comelec Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia said that charges will be filed against double or multiple registrants and noted that “good faith” is not a good defense in election cases.
Reports said there have been massive increases in the number of registered voters in some barangays which have been outpacing the projected population growth forecasted by government agencies.
The resolution filed by Marcos also cited a particular instance involving Barangay Carmona in Makati City where the number of registered voters and registration applicants surged by 78%, from just 4,718 registered voters during the 2022 elections to 8,415 for the upcoming 2023 BSKE.
Barangay Carmona chairman Joselito M. Salvador attested that there was neither a recent mass migration of new residents into the barangay nor an increase in the territory of the barangay. Thus, the sharp rise in the numbers cannot be accounted for.
Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, said “there is an urgent need to revisit existing election laws including the Voter’s Registration Act of 1996 and relevant portions of the Omnibus Election Code in order to decisively address these long-standing issues.”
“We cannot allow these massive fraudulent voter registrations to go unchecked and become a permanent fixture in our electoral system,” the senator said.