Cagayan de Oro City — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is building a disqualification case against a barangay captain running for congressman in this city who allegedly issued barangay certificates of residency to non-residents, resulting in a rapid increase in registered voters in the city.

In a radio interview, Comelec chairperson George Garcia said they are preparing to file charges against the barangay captain, who is also a congressional candidate in the district.

The sudden surge of registered voters in the barangay is now the subject of a congressional inquiry triggered by a privilege speech from incumbent District 1 Congressman Lordan Suan.

Earlier, the Comelec regional office announced a fact-finding investigation into the alleged irregular mass transfer of voter registrations from District 1 in this city and various parts of Misamis Oriental to Barangay Carmen, the most populous barangay in the city.

Comelec assistant regional director Luz Maria Cuevas-Banzon said in a statement that among those invited to last Friday’s fact-finding probe were Second District Congressman Lordan Suan and the barangay captain to shed light on the process of voter registration transfer, particularly the issuance of barangay certificates of residency.

Banzon did not identify the barangay chairman, but there are only two candidates running in the first district — Suan and incumbent Barangay Carmen chairperson Joaquin Uy.

However, she clarified that the probe’s aim is to gather facts and make recommendations for the next year’s voter registration.

Garcia has already formed a task force to investigate the mass transfer of voters, saying that the poll body has learned that as much as 40 percent of the total number of registered voters could be irregular in some areas.

He also said that the irregularity occurs due to the lax issuance of barangay certificates in certain areas and warned that with the barangay certification issuance, the poll body may be compelled to no longer accept barangay residence certificates as valid voter identification.

To recall, Suan delivered a privilege speech on Monday calling for a congressional probe into the suspicious transfer of voters in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Batangas, and the cities of Makati and Cagayan de Oro City.