by magnolia_eic | Aug 14, 2010 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
DOUBLE or multiple registrants have surfaced at random and it is all because of the AFIS.
Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) the program being used by the government’s poll agency in registering voters automatically matches the print traces of a single individual and raises red flags when similar fingerprint match surfaces, explains Atty Ariel Selma of the city Commission on Elections office.
Because of the AFIS, more than 400 voters from Tagbilaran alone have popped red flags when their prints were cross-matched while re-registering elsewhere.
Atty. Selma however was quick to add that the red flags were noted when former Tagbilaran City voters resettled and registered anew in their new precincts of choice.
Most of these red flags were not deliberate as instead of just requesting for transfer of records, they re-registered so the computer program picks them out.
A case he cited was for a Tagbilaranon who was demanded Comelec records in support of his employment abroad.
Having been a registered voter in Tagbilaran and being in Manila at that time, the concerned instead filed for a new registration, not knowing that the computer can pick him out due to his available and valid registration in Tagbilaran, Selma narrated.
Also, some of the 400 cases in Tagbilaran were traced to women who failed to request for change of status after marriage and registered instead as new voters with a different family name.
Names and status, even faces easily change, but the fingerprints stick to truly identify the person, Selma said further elaborating on the peculiarity of the fingerprint as a true identifying mark of a person.
There are signs that people who may be involved in these red-flags are innocent, but in some cases, as this is criminal offense, it may not be too far-fetched when COMELEC would file appropriate suits, Selma added. (rac/PIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jul 5, 2010 | Local News / Bohol Balita
PUTTING a premium on people rather than on projects still highlights city Mayor Dan Lim’s plan for the city in his last three years.
Lim, who spoke before a huge crowd during his inauguration said “obviously, we will have more of the cornerstone programs that form the nucleus of our development thrust. More than ever, we put premium on people over projects.
He stressed that people should be the beneficiaries of all efforts, not mere collatilla to any grandstand project.
Considering however the difficult times engulfing the country, he argued that putting up health and education subsidies would be the city’s provision when people are forced to prioritize food clothing and shelter.
Pioneering multiple intelligence for pre-school children and now hoping to adopt it in elementary education, Lim said Tagbilaran would continue implementing the novel teaching approach which redefines the way people understand intelligence.
Since school year 2005-2006, we have reached 3,540 children, he said, hinting that the program would still mold city preschool mindsets in the next three more years at least.
Convinced that the program works even if “its too early to see the results”, he presented Philippine Jaycees awardee in 2009 for implementing the novel approach to stress his point.
He also said the city follows on its schoolchildren assistance program for elementary school pupils, one it has done in its seventh year.
The City school children assistance program gives free uniforms and school supplies to elementary kids in an effort to help parents send their kids to schools.
“A total of 57,012 pupils have availed of our freebies. Hopefully, from here on, the succeeding administrations will see to it that every public elementary school pupil in the city will be a beneficiary of this program,” the mayor who will have used up his full term said.
Admitting the city’s limited resources, he promised to continue giving tuition fee subsidy of P5,000.00 per semester to college scholars.
This subsidy program is available for students whose gross family income is not more than P120,000.00 annually.
“This is opening a window of opportunity for a better life not only for the 181 beneficiaries so far but for those who will qualify in the coming years,” he explained. (PIA-Bohol)
