HALOS hindi mahulugang karayom ang 2nd Floor ng Robinsons Otis nang dagsain ng mga nais humabol para makapagparehistro sa huling araw ng voters registration ng Comelec. Crismon Heramis
MANILA, Philippines – Nanawagan ang isang mambabatas na imbestigahan ang mga ulat ng maanomalya umanong pagtaas sa bilang ng mga bagong botante para sa 2025 polls sa ilang lugar.
Sa privilege speech, sinabi ni Cagayan de Oro Representative Lord Suan na ang irregular surge sa bilang ng mga bagong botante ay nangyari sa Batangas, Makati, Nueva Ecija, at iba pa.
“A 5% increase in new voters is normal, but a 10% or 20% increase is a red flag. It is even scandalous to see a 40% increase in the voting population, and there was a report of a 55% surge in voter registration in just one barangay,” ani Suan.
“These increases defy normal statistical patterns. In the words of our Comelec Chairman Garcia, is there a gold rush in these areas? I humbly urge this august chamber to conduct an investigation in aid of legislation on the anomalous increase of new voters in some barangays, municipalities, cities, and provinces,” dagdag ng mambabatas.
Sinabi rin ni Suan na ang mga lugar na may kahina-hinalang pagtaas sa mga bagong botante ay nangyayari sa mga lugar na wala namang significant na pagtaas ng economic businesses, employment opportunities at youth populations, “to remarkably increase the voting population beyond normal.”
Ani Suan, ang abnormal na pagtaas sa voting population ay maaaring dahil sa mga indibidwal na humihikayat sa mga botante na ilipat ang kanilang registration kapalit ang pera, trabaho, tulong, at iba pang serbisyo kapalit ng boto sa isang partikular na politiko.
“There is nothing new with this scheme. In traditional political maneuverings, we call them ‘flying voters.’ Today, these flying voters have landed en masse and registered as new voters, but they will never establish domicile in that area. As proof, almost 40 newly registered voters share a single address,” sinabi ni Suan.
“We also found out, as did the Comelec, that flying voters were able to register successfully because of the unprecedented and anomalous issuance of residence certificates in barangays. We saw this pattern, and we were wary then because we believed it would find its way to the 2025 elections,” pagpapatuloy niya.
“This [congressional] investigation will uncover the scheme of transferring new voters to areas for political gain and expose individuals who orchestrated such illegal acts. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, it will help us identify the flaws in our existing election laws and allow us to craft new ones to protect the exercise of our people’s sovereign will.”
“The right of suffrage is one of the pillars of our democratic and republican state because the Constitution states that sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them (Article 2, Section 1). Therefore, it is always imperative for a democratic country such as ours to have transparent, fair, honest, and credible elections, and the first critical step in the exercise of the right of suffrage is the registration of voters,” dagdag ni Suan. RNT/JGC
