By Roy Pelovello

THE House of Representatives passed on second reading Thursday night a bill promoting the use of the biometric system to cleanse the list of registered voters.

Under House Bill 6052, registered voters are required to appear before the election officer of their place of registration so that the officer can capture and record their photographs, fingerprints and signatures.

So far, only 23 million or less than half of the 48 million registered voters have biometric records.

Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., sponsor of the measure, said that his bill would ensure that the use of the Automated Fingerprint Identification System would enable the Commission on Elections to rid the voters? list of multiple entries.

Earlier, Locsin said that since Congress has already approved the P11.3-billion supplemental budget for the Comelec for the purpose of poll automation, Comelec must also implement the biometric system in the registration of voters.

Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr. also said AFIS can be utilized to do away with the problem of double or multiple entries in the voters? list.

Nograles expressed confidence the House can tackle the bill and pass it on third and final reading when Congress resumes its session on April 13. The House adjourned Thursday for a month-long recess.

Last year the Institute of Political and Electoral Reform urged Comelec to implement the biometrics process for all voters to weed out 2.5 million ?polluted? names in its official list of voters.