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Friday, February 23, 2007
Fake voter's ID used for NBI clearance, passport
By Ulysses Israel & Bong Garcia
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The recent discovery of fake voter's identification cards being manufactured locally led initial probe to discover that they are used by non-Zamboanga residents to get a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearance and secure passports from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), in an initial probe, said "they (fake voter's IDs) are not intended for the coming May elections, but for seeking clearance and passport purposes."
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Comelec Election Officer for District I Roy Cuevas said in an interview that fake voter's identification cards are proliferating in the city due to the increasing demand from applicants who are seeking clearance from the NBI and passports from DFA for domestic and overseas employments.
He said the Comelec was alerted by the local NBI office of dubious voter's IDs from those applying for NBI clearance. The Comelec immediately instructed NBI agents on how to distinguish fake from genuine voter's IDs, he said.
As a result, he said the NBI was able to confiscate more than 200 fake voter's IDs.
"What those responsible for manufacturing these fake IDs don't know is that each voter has his own voter's code with own identification number. But the syndicate has no idea how to make these codes, that's why their cards can be easily distinguished from genuine ones," he said.
He said even if a voter was able to secure a voter's ID, still he could not vote in a particular precinct if his name is not listed in the list of voters. This scheme could not be used for rigging the elections, he said.
The Comelec has requested the NBI to monitor and arrest those found manufacturing fake voter's IDs.
The victims are believed to have paid up to P500 for each voter's ID, the Comelec officer said.
He said the NBI personnel began to suspect the authenticity of the voter's ID when they noticed that applicants without voter's IDs were able to secure them after going away for several minutes.
When they checked the papers of the applicants, they found that they are residents of Sulu or Tawi-Tawi, making it impossible for them to have secured the voter's ID within a short period of time.
Mayor Celso Lobregat said he is not worried over the reported proliferation of fake voter's IDs in the city.
Lobregat said a voter's ID, fake of not, is not a guarantee that voters could cast their vote on May 14.
The mayor issued the statement a day after the Comelec announced the discovery of fake voter's IDs in this city.
District II election officer Jesus Posadas said the NBI has so far seized several blank fake voter's IDs in a raid on one of the local printing press firms.
Lobregat said he is not worried over the discovery, saying all the political party watchers will have a copy of the voter's master lists in the precincts where they would serve on the day of elections.
The mayor said he is not interested in knowing who are behind the proliferation of the fake IDs.
"They are faking everything, including senior citizen's ID, sanitary permits and others," Lobregat said.
Posadas announced that they would replace the voter's ID with tamper-proof ones after the May 14 elections. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Davao. (February 23, 2007 issue)
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