President Arroyo issued late yesterday a proclamation calling for a special session of Congress for three days next week to authorize the holding of a special re-gistration of voters by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), according to Malacañang sources.
The proposed special registration, if approved by Congress in the special session on March 19, 20 and 21, will allow some 4.5 million disenfranchised youth as well as other qualified but unregistered voters to list up, in time for the May 14 elections.
A Palace official confirmed to The STAR last night that the President has issued the proclamation. "This (special session) is a product of consultations of President Arroyo with leaders of Congress, the petitioners for special registration, as well as with the Comelec," he said on condition of anonymity.
"So it’s a complete consultation process but we cannot say if the Comelec will agree with it (special registration) or not," he added.
Mrs. Arroyo also authorized the allotment of P 200 million for the special registration, P100 million more than earlier reported.
Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio denied accusations of opposition Sen. John Osmeña that Malacañang distributed money to members of Congress to convince them to hold the special session.
"It’s (special voters registration) not partisan. This is consistent with the commitment of President Arroyo who really wanted to prevent disenfranchisement of voters especially from the youth sector," Claudio said. "It is a matter of allowing a significant sector of society to be given a voice in our democracy."
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court (SC) will hear at 3 p.m. on Friday arguments on a petition to compel the poll body to hold a special registration of voters.
The SC, sitting en banc, also ordered the Comelec to submit by 10 a.m. of March 16 its comments on the petition of party-list group Akbayan and other youth organizations for the holding of the special registration for new voters.
Earlier, Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo said that the holding of a special registration "would risk the credibility, stability and certainty" of the May 14 congressional and local elections.
Speaking before the Philippine Constitutional Association (Philconsa), Benipayo expressed apprehension that the credibility of the forthcoming elections may be assailed with a special registration.
He explained that aside from the legal obstacles, the new list of voters that would result from a special registration may be tainted by flying voters since the Comelec failed to complete its precinct mapping project.
The project was supposed to help the Comelec verify the identity and residence of voters, reducing the illegal but common practice of paying certain individuals to vote more than once in distant precincts.
The Comelec last year resolved to use the list of voters in the 1998 presidential elections in the May 14 elections because the Comelec failed to complete the mapping project under the supervision of Comelec commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco.
Critics have also blamed Tancangco for failing to undertake a public information drive on the continuing registration of voters from July 1998 to Dec. 27 last year, supposedly resulting in the disenfranchisement of the 4.5 million new voters.
The National Movement for Free Elections has also tagged Tancangco from blocking its bid to conduct an election quick-count for the May 14 polls, a task Namfrel has been performing since 1986.
"Without a completed project to map precincts, it’ll be impossible to complete the rest of the tasks that must be accomplished prior to the election," Benipayo said during the Philconsa meeting.
He stressed that flying voters might take advantage of the special registration and safeguards of the law for such a pre-election activity might not be strictly enforced.
Comelec has also said that a special registration would be illegal since the Omnibus Election Code prohibits the registration of voters within 120 days before any election day.
But lawyer Ruben Carranza, representing Akbayan, reiterated the legal opinion of former Comelec chairman Ramon Felipe that Republic Act 6646, or the Electoral Reforms Act of 1987, allows the Comelec to reset dates for pre-election activities.
"There is no attempt at rationally reconciling all these laws being passed left and right, year by year, so you end up not knowing that another law exists," Carranza said.
"But in any event, as far as laws regarding elections are concerned, the Comelec should be on its feet," he said, adding that there are now more than 200 youths who are parties to the SC suit.
No less than President Arroyo has directed her chief legal counsel Avelino Cruz and Solicitor General Simeon Marcelo to support the youth groups that filed the suit before the SC.
Presidential chief of staff Renato Corona said Marcelo will use Felipe’s legal opinion in the petition that the government itself will file to support the petitions filed with the SC.
"We cannot prevent these politicians or special interest groups who want to pumapel (take a high-profile role) in this issue of special registration," the President said.
"What is important is no one should be allowed to use this to sabotage the process of elections," she stressed.
The President lamented the public pronouncements of opposition senatorial candidates who suspect an unspecified administration "hidden agenda" in the special registration.
"The issue is: are we going to allow over four million people to be disenfranchised just because some politicians want to pumapel?," Mrs. Arroyo asked.
"For me, it is more important that not one of our youth should be disenfranchised because this is a violation of the Filipinos’ right to vote and choose the right leaders of our nation," she added.
The President on Monday met with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to discuss the practicality of convening a special session of Congress to pass a law that would allow the special registration of new voters.
But Benipayo and other Comelec commissioners expressed disapproval at a proposed measure and insisted that there can be no special registration unless the May 14 polls are postponed.
The President, however, rejected the Comelec suggestion and said there is no sufficient ground to postpone the elections because the Comelec already has powers to conduct a special registration. – With Marichu Villanueva, Nikko Dizon, Sandy Araneta, Mayen Jaymalin