Comelec urges 9.6M voters to register biometrics

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines  – The Commission on Elections on Wednesday said 9.6-million registered voters should head to Comelec offices and satellite verification centers to undergo biometrics for the 2016 polls.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said voters have to undergo biometrics processing to allow them to vote in 2016.

He said the poll body aims to "get 100 percent of the 9.6 million to do biometrics."

There are 53 million voters in the country, while 9.6 million have yet to undergo biometrics.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Brillantes added that they are expecting 2.3 million new registrants. Comelec Commissioners Lucenito Tagle, Alias Yusoph, Christian Robert Lim, Grace Padaca, Al Parreno and Louie Guia were also present during the briefing.

Under the new law, biometrics are mandatory, Brillantes said.

"Ok lang yung hakot ng pulitiko. Hayaan nyo hakutin kayo at sayang din naman pakimkim, kunin nyo.  Pero wag nyo silang iboto,” the poll body chairman said in jest.

The Comelec is also welcoming civil society groups in the country to aid the poll body to push citizens to have their biometrics data recorded, Brillantes  said.

The nationwide Comelec drive for the biometrics system starts on May 6 and will end on  October 21, 2015.   

“With that (time), we shall be able to get that 9.6million," Brillantes said.

Commissioner Grace Padaca said Region 4A (Calabarzon), National Capital Region, and Central Luzon regions have the biggest number of voters without biometrics.

In the Cordillera, there are  about 244,000 voters without biometrics data yet out of the 953,006 total registered voters, according to Comelec-Cordillera director Julius Torres.

To date, 45 million voters out of the 53 million have biometrics data.

“Biometrics In Voting Too”

The poll body  is also considering doing the actual voting via biometrics, said Lim, chairperson of the steering committee for the 2016 Synchronized National and Local Elections. 

The poll body is looking to roll out more PCOS machines to reduce to 600 voters per PCOS machine from 1000 per machine. 

“This amounts to P16 billion budgetary requirement though,”  Lim said.

Voting via biometrics would also require P60 billion.

All these options on PCOS completion, biometrics voting were all submitted for approval to Congress, Lim said. - Artemio A. Dumlao