COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes said Wednesday that President Benigno Aquino’s wish for a general re-registration of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao might not be fulfilled in time for next year’s elections.
Speaking over a local radio station here, Brillantes said this was the initial assessment of the members of the commission who agreed time was running out for the general voter’s list-up in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan—the provinces that make up the ARMM.
“The money for the ARMM electoral reform is not a problem, but what we are confronted with is the limited time to come up with the President’s wish,” Brillantes said.
The government needs about P850 million to annul the old voters’ lists and conduct a new general registration but only P450 if the old voters’ lists were to be revalidated and the registration of new voters continued.
In explaining how time consuming the general re-registration would be, Brillantes said the Comelec has to start hearing annulment petitions from affected communities. This alone, he said, would already be “time-consuming.”
“We will not dare take the risk to proceed (with the general listing) if there’s a problem,” he said.
Brillantes said the decision on whether or not to conduct a general re-registration will be known after a special Comelec session in Baguio on Thursday.
“Initially, the Comelec is inclined not to proceed with the general registration because it would be difficult to meet the timeline,” Brillantes said.
Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said he wanted the poll body to go ahead with the re-registration process to weed out multiple registrants or flying voters.
But Brillantes said even if it wanted to pursue the general re-registration, it would only be possible for the Comelec to finish the process in Maguindanao “but not the whole ARMM.”
Aquino had cited the need for electoral reforms in the ARMM when he urged Congress to pass legislation calling off the August 2011 ARMM elections to synchronize them with the national mid-term and congressional elections in 2013.