CEBU CITY – Residents from 43 barangays in Palompon, Leyte have formally filed complaints and petitions to remove 1,021 voters who have been confirmed dead from the municipality’s voter's list.
ESIDENTS of Palompon, Leyte file petitions asking for the removal of deceased voters from the municipality’s voters' list. (Contributed photo)
Among those who remained in the list was former Palompon Mayor Marcelo C. Oñate who passed away in 2021.
Persons included in that list were confirmed dead through affidavits of community members and or certifications from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
On Feb. 17, 2025, a group of vigilant members from the 43 barangays sent a letter to lawyer Maria Corazon S. Montallana, acting assistant regional election director of Comelec-Region 8, to request the cancellation of 1,021 deceased voters.
The letter included other anomalies – registration of 868 non-resident voters, double registrations, and cancellation of valid voters.
Last March 3, formal requests for cancellation of the dead voters were filed with Comelec-Region 8 in Tacloban City. The Comelec-8 has yet to respond to the request as of posting time.
This was not the first attempt to remove dead voters in the voter's list of Palompon.
Earlier, 10 election cases were filed with the Municipal Trial Court of Palompon on Feb. 3, 2025, for the exclusion of dead voters from the voter's list.
These cases were dismissed the next day by Judge Delia P. Noel-Bertulfo due to technical reasons, particularly their compliance with the submission deadline.
Motions for reconsideration were filed immediately but were also denied.