Resolution No. 9520 - Policy Guidelines and Procedures on the Deletion of Double/Multiple Records Found Thru AFIS

Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

Manila

RESOLUTION No. 9520

Policy Guidelines and Procedures in the Deletion of Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) Identified Double/Multiple Registration Records in the Concluded July 9 to 18, 2012 ARMM General Registration of Voters

[Promulgated: September 13, 2012]

WHEREAS, pursuant to Joint Resolution No. 3 of the Congress of the Philippines signed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, as implemented by Resolution No. 9475 dated June 21, 2012 of the Commission on Elections (Commission), a General Registration of Voters was conducted last July 9 to 18, 2012 in the Provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM);

WHEREAS, the said general registration yielded a total of ONE MILLION FIVE HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED NINE (1,567,409) registration records (records) based on the consolidated data in the National Data Center (Central Database) of the Commission;

WHEREAS, the subject 1,567,409 ARMM registration records are presently undergoing the cleansing process through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) in line with the policy of the State as provided under Republic Act No. 8189 (The Voters' Registration Act of 1996) to establish a clean, complete, permanent and updated list of voters by purging double/multiple records;

WHEREAS, AFIS matching result is an accurate/true hit which signifies that the subject fingerprint is identical with the other fingerprint being matched;

WHEREAS, as of September 11, 2012, the Information Technology Department (ITD) reported that out of 662,524 records subjected to AFIS process, the AFIS hits a total of 61,416 (9.27%) registration records;

NOW THEREFORE, by virtue of the power vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code as amended, Republic Act No. 8189 and other applicable laws, the Commission RESOLVES as it hereby RESOLVED to ADOPT the following policy guidelines and procedures on the deletion of double/multiple records found through AFIS, to wit:

A. BEFORE ELECTION REGISTRATION BOARD HEARING:

a) The ITD shall generate and print AFIS identified double/multiple records;

b) Based on the AFIS results, ITD and Election and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) shall undertake the deletion of the records from the Central Database, of those identified double/multiple records;

c) The deletion shall be conducted within the vicinity of the ITD where the Central Database is located in order to preserve the integrity of the process and avoid premature dissemination of records deleted or status of deletion or leakage of registration records.  The said process shall be under the strict control and supervision of the Acting Director IV of ITD and Director IV of EBAD;

d) Once the process of deletion is completed, selected EBAD and ITD personnel shall proceed to the Offices of the Provincial Election Supervisors (OPES) in the Provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to effect the installation of the cleansed database of the Offices of the Election Officers (OEOs) in the above provinces so that the Central Database and Local Database will be synchronized.

For this purpose, the ARMM Regional Election Director and the Provincial Election Supervisors shall direct the EOs to bring their Voter's Registration Machines CPU to their respective OPES;

e) The ITD shall provide the technical procedures to execute the installation of cleansed data in the ARMM local database;

f) After the installation of the cleansed data in the local database, the EOs shall generate new lists of applicants and cause the posting thereof in the city/municipal and OEOs' bulletin boards, copy furnished the representatives of the political parties existing in the city/municipality; and

g) All EOs in the cities and municipalities of the ARMM shall be provided with a hard copy of the AFIS identified double/multiple records with notice that the same were already deleted pursuant to this Resolution and that their corresponding applications shall no longer be included in the ERB hearing.

B. AFTER ELECTION REGISTRATION BOARD HEARING:

1. The EOs shall, after the last ERB hearing, consolidate the records in their respective local database and generate the Quarterly Progress Reports (QPR) and Project of Precincts (POP) for the May 13, 2013 Elections;

2. The personnel of EBAD and ITD, pursuant to Section 32 of Resolution No. 9338, shall conduct joint offsite verification in the cities and municipalities in ARMM to ensure that:

a) Double/multiple records were actually deleted in the consolidated local database; and 

b) Submission of correct and accurate QPR and POP, List of approved applications and SNPDAT or soft (back-up) copy of the local database.

RESOLVED FINALLY, that the ARMM EOs are hereby enjoined to comply, under pain of administrative sanctions, to generate and post the NEW LISTS OF APPLICANTS after the installation of cleansed data in their respective database.

Let the office of the Executive Director implement this Resolution.

SO ORDERED.