The Commission on Elections and concerned citizens are not without legal remedy to assail the alleged “new voters” with questionable if not suspicious residency, who braved the heavy rains and swamped the offices of the election officers in a mad rush to register in the forthcoming Oct. 28 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election. Some were even reportedly herded by barangay officials and other persons intending to run in the political exercise.
Such registration is not yet final anyway because the registration will still be verified and set for hearing by the various election registration boards (ERBs) in the country. Under Comelec Resolution No. 9175, the hearing is set not later than Aug. 12. Any voter may question any registrant by opposing the application for registration on or before Aug. 8 on such ground as being a nonresident of the place of registration or failure to comply with the six-month residency before the election. And the opposition shall be set for hearing by the ERB.
In the event that the registration is approved by the ERB despite opposition, the aggrieved party or any registered voter, or representative of a political party or the election officer of the Comelec, may file a petition for exclusion before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC) on or before Aug. 30. The MTC has to decide the case within 10 days from the date of the filing of the petition and the MTC decision shall be final and executory and no motion for reconsideration of the decision is allowed. (Section 33, RA 8189, Voters’ Registration Act).
In a word, the registration of these voters is not yet final and is not a guarantee that they could be legally included in the Certified Voters List for purposes of the Oct. 28 elections.
—ROMULO B. MACALINTAL,
election lawyer,
rbmacalintal@gmail.com