Commission on Elections Chairperson George Erwin Garcia (3rd from left) answers queries from the press at the close of the fifth day of filing of certificates of candidacy and certificates of nomination – certificate of acceptance for the 2025 midterm polls at The Manila Hotel Tent City on Saturday (Oct. 5, 2024). (File photo from PNA by Avito Dalan)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is urging the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to investigate the laxity of some barangays in the issuance of of barangay certifications which leads to irregular voter transfers.
Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said the use of barangay certification as proof of residence can be abused by local officials during elections.
“We are also urging our DILG to investigate those issuing barangay certification which we know are bogus,” Garcia said in a press conference on Wednesday.
DILG chief Jonvic Remulla was reached by INQUIRER.net for comment but he has yet to respond as of posting time.
Currently, one requirement the public can present as an identification document to become a registered voter in a locality is a barangay identification or certification with a photograph.
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However, this can lead to “mass migration” of voters from one locality to the other, according to Garcia.
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“Unfortunately, these new voters are not using government issued ID but barangay certification,” he said.
Nevertheless, Garcia noted that the Supreme Court ruled that barangay certification is acceptable in absence of any government IDs.
“But we think, with all due respect to all of them, the usage of barangay certification is being abused,” he said.
The United Nationalists Alliance, a party led by Sen. Nancy Binay who is gunning for Makati City’s mayoral seat, on Monday questioned before Comelec the validity of the qualifications of 3,000 registrants in the 2nd district and 79 more in the 1st district.
Garcia said similar irregularities were observed in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Cagayan de Oro and Batangas.
He said the poll body learned that “as high as 40 percent of the total number of registered voters” were found to be irregular in some areas.
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The Comelec has formed a task force to probe such cases.
