PUGO, La Union – Concerned residents in various barangays in the municipality raised concern in the alleged significant increase in the number of individuals from various places transferring their voters registration to their places that could make them potential flying voters in the upcoming May 12, 2025 mid-term elections.
Sources, who requested anonymity for personal and security reasons, claimed that the influx in the number of individuals from nearby towns is politically aligned with the aspiration of a relative of a politician from the province’s district to seek an elected post in the locality in next year’s elections to ensure control of the election results.
Further, the sources allege that the planned transfer of potential flying voters started several months after the opening of the registration period for new voters last February where they took advantage of the poll body’s Register Anywhere Program to initially achieve their goals.
Based on the data obtained from the local Comelec office, there are already close to 1,500 individuals that have transferred their voters registration to various barangays in the municipality that saw an unusual increase in the number of registered voters for a fifth-class municipality that warrants the conduct of an in-depth investigation to avoid doubts on the outcome of the May 2025 polls.
The sources also sought the conduct of the necessary investigation on the alleged involvement of some punong barangays in the said questionable transfer of voters registration for issuing certificates of residency to the transferees even if they are not bonafide residents of the barangays where they intend to vote in the upcoming elections.
Moreover, the sources said that the town’s number of registered voters which stands at more than 14,000 could abnormally increase to 20,000 if the Comelec remains lenient in handling the transfer of voters registration and the registration of new voters in the municipality.
According to them, there were instances where some individuals who intended to transfer their voters registration to the municipality were questioned for presenting questionable requirements, such as their identification cards, but there were numerous individuals who were able to successfully transfer their voters registration, thus, the need for the poll body to immediately institute the appropriate remedies to cleanse the list of voters in the municipality in the spirit of fair election results.
The sources disclosed that with the remaining two weeks before the end of the ongoing voters registration, there are still hundreds of individuals that are still flocking to the local Comelec office to transfer their voters registration to the various barangays in the municipality which seems to be tolerated by provincial and municipal Comelec officials in collusion with an influential politician from the province’s second district who wants to allegedly control the politics in the area.
The sources stipulated that the Comelec should step in to address the said issue to ensure that the voice of the people of the municipality will prevail in the May 12, 2025 mid-term elections and not for it to be tainted with controversy because of potential flying voters brought in by a politician wanting to lord it over in the province’s second district. By Dexter A. See
