(Photo courtesy of Philsys Datu Salibo, Maguindanao) MANILA - Muslim Filipinos can proceed to the Step 2 biometrics capturing process of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) without taking off their traditional head coverings. Hijab (cloth usually wrapped around the head and neck) for females and taqiyah (skull cap) for males. In a recent social media advisory, the Philippine Statistics Authority, the lead PhilSys implementing agency, clarified that registry offices will not require Muslim registrants to take off their hijab and taqiyah during photo capture. At the same time, the PSA reminded registrants nationwide that double registration and providing false information are punishable by law. So far, more than 60 million Filipinos have registered to acquire a Philippine Identification (PhilID) card or the national ID. The Step 1 online registration is via https://www.philsys.gov.ph while the final phase is the delivery of the PhilID cards by the Philippine Postal Corporation
(File photo) MANILA - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has released the guidelines for the conduct of the random manual audit (RMA) for next year's elections. In Resolution 10738 promulgated on Thursday and released on Friday, the poll body said at least one clustered precinct in every legislative district shall be randomly selected for the RMA. "The actual number of precincts to be selected in a legislative district shall be determined by proportional allocation, that is, based on the number of clustered precincts a legislative district has in proportion to that of all the other legislative districts in the country," it said. "For purposes of the 9 May 2022 National and Local Elections, the maximum total number of clustered precincts to be selected shall not be more than 759." The RMA will start not later than five days after election day and shall be held at a venue within the National Capital Region to be determined by the Random Manual Audit Committee (