Nothing can stop 1,458 ‘flying voters’ from voting in Pasay

LAST-MINUTE PREPARATIONS A teacher prepares a tally sheet in one of the polling centers at Corazon Aquino Elementary School on Batasan Road, Quezon City, on the eve of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

There is technically nothing that can prevent 1,458 alleged “flying voters” in Pasay City from voting in today’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, according to a local poll official.

Lawyer Ramon Rosello, Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer of the city’s second district, told the Inquirer on Sunday that as a precaution, he had declared Barangay 97 an “election watch list area” and expected heightened security in the polling center, Padre Zamora Elementary School.

Still, he was “not very confident” these steps would stop the suspected flying voters.

“Our dilemma is that their names are still on the voter’s list,” Rosello said. “If your name is on the list, you will be allowed to vote.”

Short of securing the area, Rosello conceded there was little that could be done. He called on teachers and poll watchers at the polling center to be the government’s line of defense, urging them to “be vigilant” and challenge a voter’s identity if necessary.

Rosello said an election protest might be filed later to question the results if it was discovered that votes from nonresidents were counted.

Complaint first of its kind

A criminal complaint filed against the suspected flying voters in February was the first of its kind. They were also the biggest group to face such a case.

According to the complaint, 1,458 voters in the city’s Barangay 97 gave fictitious addresses, 275 of them listing an address which turned out to be a Light Rail Transit station.

Another 260 of these voters claimed that they lived at an address which turned out to be that of the incumbent barangay chair, Serafico Ang. He has served two terms as Barangay 97 chair since 2010.

The complaint, filed by his rival for the post, businesswoman Yok Tin So, is still pending in the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office, where it was submitted for resolution last month.

So is represented by high-profile election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, whose clients include Vice President Leni Robredo.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Macalintal criticized the Comelec, saying he was “so disappointed” over its glacial pace in resolving the case.

“If [a case involving] a very, very small barangay could not be acted upon despite the fact that [the Comelec] already has all the evidence … I don’t know if it could handle more serious problems in this barangay election,” he said.