Comelec asks businesses to set ‘biometrics day’ for employees

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday appealed to business owners to allow their employees to have their biometrics taken so they can vote during the 2016 polls.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, in his Twitter account, urged employers to provide a “#BIOMETRICSday” for their employees even during work days.

“Dear Bosses: you have employees who won’t be able to vote coz they don’t have #BIOMETRICS. Giving them a #BIOMETRICSday would be so cool,” said Jimenez (@jabjimenez).

He defined #BIOMETRICSday as a special holiday given by employers to employees to allow the latter to go to Comelec offices for biometrics capturing.

“It has always been their excuse — they can’t go to Comelec because they have work. We tried to open on Saturdays and Sundays, but still they won’t go saying it’s their family day. So let’s try this, let’s appeal to employers to give their employers a chance to get biometrics even during their workdays,” Jimenez said.

Biometrics capture is the process wherein the voter applicants’ photograph, fingerprints, and signature are captured digitally.

Republic Act 10367 or the Mandatory Biometrics Registration Act of 2013 states that voters who fail to submit for validation prior to the May 2016 elections shall be deactivated from the voters’ list and shall not be allowed to vote.

Based on the latest Comelec data, about 4.7 million voters have yet to have their biometrics taken.

The deadline for the registration for the 2016 polls is on October 31.

Jimenez admitted that validation or biometrics capture has become the biggest problem facing the Comelec in terms of voter registration.

He said they would likely increase access points for those wanting to undergo validation.

Jimenez added that the Comelec has been considering acquiring more voter registration machines and training more people to administer the procedure.

“We want to increase the capacity to accommodate more people,” he said.