IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Bohol election officer and lawyer Eliso Labaria issued this alarm as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to re-open its continuing registration for new voters and revalidation or reactivation of old voters starting May 6, 2014 to October 31, 2015.

But according to the Comelec officer, I have no use for it since my picture was already printed beside my name in the voters’ list.

I didn’t have to bring out any of my ID cards from my wallet that was bulging, not with a wad of money, but with SSS, GSIS, driver’s license, S and R, SM Advantage, senior citizen’s, and company ID cards.

Col. Dante Costez, commander of the Army Signal Regiment (ASR), said the new ID system features state-of-the-art technology that encompasses computers, servers, network infrastructure,nd information system that will be controlled and overseen wholly by military personnel.

The ASR, spearheaded by Costez, formulated and designed the new ID system to alleviate the problems presented by the previous ID system.

In this way, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be able to reduce, if not eliminate, cheating of poll results because of the existence of double or multiple registrants, said Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, chairman of the committee on electoral reforms and people’s participation.

Under Senate Bill 1030 of Senator Lito Lapid, photographs, fingerprints, signature, and other identifiable features, will be stored by the data capturing machine of the automated election system that has been adopted by the Comelec.

Lawyer Rey Sumalipao, ARMM election regional director, said all Comelec municipal offices are open for registration five days a week, from Sundays to Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sumalipao, who was implicated in the 2004 Hello Garci recordings that implied massive cheating in behalf of former President Gloria Arroyo against Philippine actor Fernando Poe Jr., said the registration period started May 6 and ends October 31, 2015.

“Next week, I will move for the ratification of the report by the Senate and hopefully within the year it will be signed into law,” Senator Aquilino “Koko” Martin d. L. Pimentel III, electoral reforms and people’s participation committee chairman, yesterday said in an interview after the joint chamber meeting.

Mr. Pimentel said Rep. Elpidio F. Barzaga, Jr., (Dasmariñas City), suffrage and electoral reforms committee chairman, will also move for ratification of the reconciled version at the House of Representatives next week.

House Bill 3469, principally authored by Tarlac Rep. Susan Yap, which was passed on third and final reading seeks to ensure the integrity of any electoral exercises, be it election, plebiscite or referenda.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will serve as the implementing arm of the measure. It is tasked to come up with a single, official, centralized, interactive computerized voter registration list “in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner.”

About 8 million Filipinos out of the close to 50 million registered voters have no biometric records with the Comelec, but they can still vote in the upcoming May 13 polls.

Biometrics refer to the picture, fingerprints and signature of a voter recorded by a computer during the registration period. The system supposedly helps the Comelec in purging the final list of multiple registrants.

As more and more people open social media accounts, personal identity has gone digital; which means it has become more mobile. But with this ongoing trend comes the sinister underworld full of digital fraudulent schemes, cyberhacks, account take-over attacks and identity thefts, which can leave not just the users but also the government, regulators and businesses, vulnerable if these concerns are not addressed properly.

Siegfred Mison, BI Officer-in-Charge, said the Department of Justice has approved installations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport amd Clark International Airport among other terminals.

“Since 2012, BI computers at the NAIA had ‘downtimes’ at least 15 times lasting for several minutes, that led to queues and manual processing of passengers at the immigration counters,” he said.

The bicameral conference committee, headed by Sen Aquilino Pimentel III, approved the proposal taken from House Bill 3469 and Senate Bill 1030, which requires all voters to appear before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to have their photograph, fingerprints and signatures recorded.

HB6052 was passed on May 23, while SB1030 was approved on November 12.

Some 30 members of the DFA-OCA attended the training led by the Inter-Agency Committee against Passport Irregularities (ICPI), the DFA said.

"From this pool of trainees, a core group will be formed to strengthen the Anti-Fraud and Investigation Unit of DFA-OCA's Passport Division," the DFA said in a news release on its website.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said the biometrics system piloted in this town is seen to avoid any unnecessary arrangements made by the beneficiaries with other persons.

“After the implementation in Leyte, the biometrics technology will also be used in the province of Maguindanao, where there is high prevalence of fraud in claiming the amount intended for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries,” Soliman said.

Tarlac 2nd district representative Susan Yap, author of House Bill 908, said the use of biometrics in voter registration has been validated as a reliable way of confirming the identity of a person.

Biometics involves electronic recording of applicants’ photographs and signature, as well as his or her fingerprints.

The timekeeping kiosk units will be installed at the new City Hall by December 2011, in time for the transfer of some City Government offices at the seven-storey building. Full transfer of all offices is expected before the end of January 2012.

In a statement, BI Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. said the scheme will enhance the country’s border security and boost the agency’s capability to thwart the entry of foreign terrorists and other illegal aliens.

Biometrics scheme involves the use of an ink-less device and digital camera in capturing the fingerprints and photographs of international travelers.

The new biometrics system, which underwent a “mock test,” together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Eastern Visayas Region, is set to be launched in Matag-ob, Leyte later this August.

Unless they enter their biometrics data into the Commission on Elections (Comelec) voters’ list, close to 5 million registered voters may not be allowed to cast ballots in the 2016 elections.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that of the 52 million registered voters, 4.7 million had yet to enrol their biometrics data consisting of digital fingerprints, photo and signature, with the poll body.

“Millions of registered voters still have no biometrics in the Comelec’s list of voters. Fail to fix that before October 2015 and they can’t vote,” said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez in his Twitter account (@jabjimenez).

Jimenez said that of the 52 million registered voters, there are 7.3 million who have not yet enrolled their biometrics data with the poll body.

“Millions of registered voters still have no biometrics in the Comelec’s list of voters. Fail to fix that before October 2015 and they can’t vote,” Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said in his Twitter account, @jabjimenez.