QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 10367)
RA 10367 declares it is the policy of the State to establish a clean, complete, permanent, and updated list of voters through the adoption of biometric technology.
Biometrics refers to quantitative analysis that provides positive identification of an individual such as voice, photograph, fingerprint, signature, iris, and/or such other identifiable features.
A DCM is the device which captures the biometrics of an individual.
Validation is the process of taking the biometrics of registered voters whose biometrics have not yet been captured.
Deactivation is the removal of the registration record of the registered voter from the corresponding precinct book of voters for failure to comply with the validation process. Reactivation is the reinstatement of a deactivated voter.
Registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured shall submit themselves for validation.
The City or Municipal Election Officer conducts the validation.
The Commission (COMELEC) shall conduct validation beginning July 1, 2013, consistent with continuing registration under Republic Act No. 8189.
COMELEC must publish the commencement of validation in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. The City or Municipal Election Officer must serve individual written notices by registered mail with return card to concerned voters’ latest addresses in the voter registration record, and post the list in the city/municipal bulletin board and the local COMELEC office.
Voters who fail to submit for validation on or before the last day of filing of application for registration for purposes of the May 2016 elections shall be deactivated pursuant to the Act.
They may apply for reactivation after the May 2016 elections following the procedure provided in Section 28 of Republic Act No. 8189.
The database generated by biometric registration shall be secured by the Commission and shall not be used, under any circumstance, for any purpose other than for electoral exercises.
COMELEC shall implement a mandatory biometrics registration system for new voters.
It is an offense to (a) prohibit, impede, obstruct, or prevent a registered or new voter from submitting biometrics for capture through force, intimidation, or monetary consideration; and (b) for any public official or person, unjustifiably and without due process, cause the deactivation or reactivation of any registered voter. These are punishable under Sections 263 and 264 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 (Omnibus Election Code).
COMELEC must promulgate the implementing rules and regulations within sixty (60) days after the effectivity of the Act.
The separability clause provides that if any part is held invalid, the other parts or provisions remain valid and effective.
All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations inconsistent with RA 10367 are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
It takes effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Because it requires a mandatory biometrics registration system for new voters (Section 10) and mandates validation submissions for existing registered voters whose biometrics had not yet been captured, with deactivation as a consequence for failure to comply within the specified deadline (Sections 3 and 7).