‘Flying voters’ in registration list found

BACOLOR -- Vice Mayor Ananias Canlas Jr. said on Sunday his group discovered suspected “flying voters” in the voting registration records (VRRs) of the lahar-devastated municipality.

In a press conference, Canlas said 4,000 to 6,000 questionable voters were able to register for the 2010 national and local elections that affected the results of the polls.

Canlas was accompanied by Ferdinand Labung, his running mate in the 2010 elections, during the press conference.

The officials said they are set to file criminal charges against those responsible for the registration of non-residents in the town.

Canlas said they are now in the process of checking the VRRs, adding that majority of the questionable registrants are from Mindanao.

Canlas said volunteers are now scrutinizing voters list where some of the information is marked with violations like the six-month residency, error of entries, among others.

Canlas urged other town officials including Mayor Jose Maria Hizon to join in his crusade to cleanse the voter’s list of the town.

He said his people were deprived of their freewill to select their leaders because of the fraud.

According to the official, he was permitted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc to reproduce the VRRs for 2012 backwards to 2007 after this discovery of flying voters.

In only one village here, Canlas said there are more than 200 voters who were able to register during the last polls.

In April to June this year, there were more than 60 suspected applicants whose residencies are questionable.

According to Canlas, these people are residents of other towns.

He also said that the penmanship of all the suspected “flying voters” is uniform.

The information sheet of applicants should be filled out by the voters themselves as provided for under the Voters Registration Act, according to Canlas.

Canlas’ group is also set to file exclusion proceedings against the questionable individuals.

“We will find out if they are residents of our town,” he said.

Labung, for his part, complained that he was a victim of the fraud. He lost to Hizon by a narrow margin of votes during the last elections.

Labung said he was shocked with the tremendous increase in the number of voters.

He said he will support Canlas in his campaign, while also urging the people of Bacolod to participate in their crusade for free and honest elections in 2013.

He also urged Hizon to assist Canlas and initiate efforts to get rid of flying voters.