COTABATO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here has advised new city voters having doubtful residency status to file for a petition for inclusion before the local courts so as not to be delisted.
This came about as the Comelec has started hearing since Tuesday the side of some 4,000 new voters, whose residency status have been questioned and petitions for their disqualification have been filed.
The Election Regulatory Board (ERB) chaired by acting Cotabato City election officer, lawyer Mohammad Samama, said the hearing aims to determine the legitimacy of newly-registered voters.
“Only more than 1,000 of the 4,000 questionable new city voters came to our office bringing documents with them to prove their legitimate residency,” Samama said, noting that the three-day ERB hearing adjourned on Thursday.
Hundreds of new voters flocked to the city Comelec office early this week to defend their residency status after a group of local village officials petitioned the Comelec to disqualify them for supposed failure to comply with residency requirements.
The newly-registered voters brought with them birth certificates and other documentary requirements to prove that they are city residents.
Comelec has listed more than 10,000 new voters in the city, and about 4,000 of them are being questioned because they are not local residents but from nearby Sultan Kudarat and Datu Odin Sinsuat towns.
“We are rushing against time. We expect to complete the process soon,” Samama told reporters.
Sainuddin Tambunan, a transferee-voter, maintained he was a resident of Maguindanao but has since transferred his dwelling in Cotabato City.
Shalima Ali, a new voter, said she was “surprised I was told that my name will be delisted if I don’t appear before the ERB.”
Cotabato City residents are set to vote in the January 2019 referendum, where they would be asked if they wish to join the new political entity to be established under the Bangsamoro Organic Law. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
