NewsOne-third of ARMM voters illiterate: PCID

COTABATO CITY – The Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) confirms that more than one-third of registered voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are illiterate.

After the November 2015 registration, registered voters in the ARMM bloated to 1,863,230. Of that number, more than 600,000 are illiterate who could barely read and write.

“Education in ARMM is really bad, something that the ARMM government is doing something about by reforming the system,” PCID president Amina Rasul-Bernardo said.

The ARMM government said this has been a problem for a long time now.

ARMM executive secretary Laisa Alamia said the current regional government has been doing reforms to address the issue. “Five to 10 years makakaboto na sila without assistance. That is our target,” Alamia said.

Despite this, the Commission on Election encourages everyone to practice their right to vote on the upcoming May 2016 elections.

“Maraming illiterate, di marunong magbasa at sumulat pero pwedeng magpatulong. Bumoto po kayo,” Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon said.