The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared the splintered PDP-Laban as the dominant majority party, even though it did not field its own candidate for president this year, while the Nacionalista Party was designated the dominant minority party.
Under Comelec rules, poll watchers of the dominant majority and dominant minority parties will be given preference if the space in the canvassing or consolidation center is insufficient.
The Comelec also identified 10 major political parties: the National Unity Party, Aksyon Demokratiko, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, Liberal Party, United Nationalist Alliance, Lakas-CMD, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma, Akbayan, and Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.
The 10 major political parties will be entitled to one official watcher in every polling place and canvassing center.
Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the dominant parties and 10 major political parties will also have access to the transparency server in the May 2022 polls.
Others who have access to the transparency server are the Kapisanan ng Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (citizens arm), and the media.
Both PDP Laban President Secretary Alfonso Cusi and the party chairman Senator Aquilino Pimentel III filed separate petitions for accreditation as dominant majority party, dominant minority party and 10 major national parties. The party had split over which candidate to back for the presidential election.
“Pending resolution of the petition…filed by [the] Cusi wing of the PDP-Laban, the PDP-Laban shall be treated as one single political party for purposes of determining the dominant majority party, dominant minority party, and the 10 major national parties,” the Comelec resolution stated.
For this purpose, the Commission en banc treated them as one single political party.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said that they will release the resolution on the PDP-Laban factions soon.
The Comelec on Thursday said at least 52 percent or more than 37 million of the 65.7 million voters for the May 9 national elections are “young voters.”
According to Comelec data, a total of 65,721,230 Filipino citizens have registered for the forthcoming elections, which includes 32,076,993 male voters and 33,644,237 female voters.
Out of that total, 31.41 million voters are in the age group of 18-40, classified as the youth vote.
The poll body said that for the May 9, 2022 elections there are more than 65.7 million Filipinos registered, higher than Comelec’s target of 59 million.
The Comelec’s Information Technology Department said that in October last year, the last month for registration, there were a total of 4,094,614 young adult Filipinos who were newly registered voters.
Most of the first-time voters are women at 2,156,657 while 1,937,957 are men.
Meanwhile, there are more than 28.7 million voters who belong to the 42 years old and above age range, with at least 10.2 million senior citizens are expected to vote on May 9, including 4.5 million men and 5.6 million women over 60 years old.
Comelec records also showed that the regions where most voters reside are the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) Region with 9,192,205 registered individuals and the National Capital Region (NCR) which has a total of 7,301,393.
For Calabarzon or Region 4-A, most of the 9.1 million voters are from Cavite with 2,302,353, Laguna with 2,044,796, and Batangas with 1,819,071.
For NCR, most are from Quezon City with 1,403,895, Manila City with 1,112,081, Caloocan City with 700,279, Makati City with 458,362, and Pasig City with 457,370.
Region 3 or Central Luzon with 7,289,055 voters, Region 7 or Central Visayas with 5,202,289, and Region 6 or Western Visayas with 5,026,305.
In other developments:
• The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it will be sending at least 90 personnel to ensure the smooth flow of traffic at the vicinity of Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City during the canvassing of votes for the national elections.
• State-run People’s Television Network (PTV) said it would go on air for an integrated simulcast nationwide with other government networks starting May 9. This is the government media’s largest and most comprehensive coverage of the national and local elections.
• Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez urged the House of Representatives and the Senate to now prepare for the canvassing of presidential and vice-presidential votes to be cast in Monday’s elections, to ensure the smooth and expeditious transmission of certificates of canvass from provinces and independent cities to Congress.
• The Department of Health (DOH) Center for Health Development-Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) reminded the public to cast their vote safely and observe the minimum health and safety protocol in the upcoming May 9 National and Local Elections. Based on the New Normal Manual issued by the Comelec, health and safety protocols will strictly be imposed on Election Day.