Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 23)— Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia called on Congress to allow the body to open re-registration of voters to cleanse the list for the 2028 polls.
He renewed his appeal to lawmakers on Thursday, citing the need for a more accurate national list of registered voters for the presidential and vice presidential elections.
“Pinu-push natin yan at pinapakiusap natin sa ating kagalang-galang na kongreso na baka pupwedeng pag-isipan natin after the 2025 elections para back to zero tayo,” Garcia said.
“Balewala natin ang present list of voters, malay natin hindi naman pala talaga siya 68 million,” he added.
[Translation: We are pushing for this and we are asking Congress to consider this after the 2025 elections, so that we’ll go back to zero. Let’s replace the present list of voters, we’re not even sure if that 68 million voters are still accurate.]
Garcia explained the Comelec cannot act on its own since the move needs legislation.
He believed that the re-registration will help allay fears and doubts of voters who encounter issues with the official list.
“Doon masisigurado po natin na yung mga magrerehistrong bago, sila talaga yung residente diyan sa mga lugar kung saan sila nandiyan,” he said. “Number two, at least po maaayos na natin yung mga nagpa-transfer.”
[Translation: With this, we can make sure that we will be able to register the new voters, and we can know if they are really residents of the area. Number two, at least we can organize those who want to transfer.]
The poll chief said they recently discovered 491,000 double or multiple registrants in the current list through its automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS).
He said the re-registration will help update their biometrics, since the oldest set of fingerprints available dates back to 2003.
Aside from updating their data, he said there is a need to procure new technology – automated biometric identification system (ABIS) – for the general registration.
“Sa atin four fingerprints ang ginagamit natin eh,” Garcia pointed out. “‘Yung ABIS po 10 fingerprints, pagkatapos meron pang facial recognition, meron pang iris verification. So ‘yun kumpletong kumpleto.”
[Translation: We use four fingerprints while the ABIS uses 10 fingerprints, facial recognition and an iris verification. So theirs are complete.]
He pegged the estimated budget for the new system at ₱1.1 billion.
The Comelec chief, however, emphasized that it is only a suggestion and can only be done after the 2025 polls.
Citizen’s arm LENTE Philippines welcomed his re-registration proposal.
“It’s about time that we have another registration or general registration for voters,” the group’s executive director, Ona Caritos, told CNN Philippines.
She suggested that Comelec and Congress revisit the Voter Registration Act or Republic Act 8189 to make the process more accessible.
“Amending the Voter Registration Act would help us maximize and ensure the general registration we will do for voters and it will be more effective,” Caritos explained.
“And we would also like to propose to Congress and to Comelec to look into including the national ID database in amending the Voter Registration Act,” she added.
Garcia said if approved, re-registration will last for one month, which he believed will give Filipinos ample time.
He said they plan to expand the ‘Register Anywhere Project’ (RAP) nationwide after its pilot run in select areas last December and January.
Under this initiative, Comelec brought voter registration to select malls and government agencies in Metro Manila and other regions.
LENTE acknowledged the success of RAP’s initial implementation, but underscored the need for a back-up plan for vulnerable sectors and far-flung areas.
“We have to factor in the different environment for rural areas, the different situation for indigenous peoples, for persons with disability, for PDLs,” Caritos said.
“We need to make sure accessibility isn’t a problem for Filipinos in case there is a general registration,” she added.
Garcia said the target is to come up with an accurate and updated list of registered voters in time for the 2028 elections.
The Comelec said there were over 68 million registered voters for the barangay elections and more than 23 million for the Sangguniang Kabataan polls.
