The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is eyeing to investigate the Cagayan de Oro official who was involved with the unusual increase in voters registration in Barangay Carmen, Cagayan de Oro, for the May 2025 polls.
The 13-page resolution was approved by the COMELEC en banc on Tuesday, and adopted measures to push through with the investigation on the reported fraudulent and anomalous voter registrations in the barangay. The COMELEC Election and Barangay Affairs Department, alongside its Special Task Force for the 2025 Elections, directed the Law Department to investigate reports on the matter.
Additionally, the investigation also sought to find evidence to prove if the barangay certificates were indeed fraudulently issued. If the evidence points to that, the barangay official who was involved would be disqualified for his candidacy for the House of Representatives.
The issue first came up when the district's representative penned a letter, asking the task force to investigate the anomalies with voter registrations in the area. According to the letter, the misuse of Barangay Residency Certification caused the registered number of voters to soar.
The COMELEC conducted its own probe on the matter, with the help of the Fact-Finding Committee. They found that voters climbed to over 15,000 this year. 6,560 for Batch 1, and 8,794 for Batch 2.
The results verify the allegations on the anomalous increase in voting registration.
"While indeed, the Fact-Finding Committee found that there was supposed to be a 'validation' of residency conducted prior to the issuance of the barangay certification, it is noteworthy to mention that there were likewise findings that the supposed standard operating procedure was not always followed," the resolution read.
"Understandably, in the absence of any uniform law or regulation guiding the issuance of such barangay certifications, the local government units are left on their own to design the procedures on how to secure a barangay certification in their own jurisdiction," it added.
With the abuse of the issuance of barangay certifications, the COMELEC said that it can no longer be used as a basis for an applicant's identification and proof of residence when registering as a voter.
Due to that, the COMELEC Task Force recommended that Congress enact a law that specifically prohibits the use of barangay certifications issued by Punong Barangays as proof of identity and residence during voter registration. Its Law Department was also ordered to conduct a preliminary investigation into possible violations of the Republic Act No. 8189.
The Task Force also asked that they coordinate with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for the filing of administrative complaints against the involved officers.
The Law Department was also instructed to file a disqualification and election offense case against the barangay captain who is currently running for Congress, if evidence proves that the certifications were fraudulently issued.
