Comelec blackmailing SC on ‘no bio, no boto’ TRO – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is being accused of trying to blackmail the Supreme Court (SC) into lifting the temporary restraining order (TRO) on the “no bio, no boto” policy.

“Comelec is actually blackmailing the Supreme Court into lifting the TRO – not by arguing on legal grounds – but by spreading fears of delays in the upcoming elections, up to a point of even raising fears of a ‘no election’ scenario,” Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said.

“All we are asking is for Comelec to abide by the Constitution. However, Comelec is using the ‘no-el’ card to cover up its refusal to abide by the Constitution.”

Ridon has argued against Comelec’s defense that the biometrics registration will ensure clean and honest elections.

“Even if the SC lifts the TRO, we will still be stuck with a biometric system that doesn’t actually serve its purpose,” he said.

“Comelec has already admitted that they can’t implement ‘no bio, no boto’ as the poll body plans to use the old book of voters to verify identities.

“In other words, Comelec itself defeats the sole purpose of biometrics registration by opting for a manual verification process instead of biometric voter authentication.”

Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista previously admitted that a hard copy of the voters’ list would be used to validate voter information at precincts for the 2016 polls, he said.

A digital voter verification system, which includes an electronic scanner for validating fingerprints, is “a want rather than a need,” he said.

The SC issued the TRO following a petition of Kabataan last Nov. 25 questioning the constitutionality of Republic Act 10367, the Mandatory Biometrics Law and its implementing guidelines, claiming these are unconstitutional as they impose an unconstitutional, additional substantive requirement on the exercise of suffrage in violation of the Constitution, petitioners said.