The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it will resume registration for local and overseas voters from December 9, 2022 to January 31, 2023.
Lanao del Norte lawmakers Sittie Aminah Dimaporo and Khalid Dimaporo meanwhile are seeking to postpone the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The Dimaporo siblings earlier filed House Bill 4213 and House Bill 4220 seeking to amend the Bangsamoro Organic law that created the autonomous region in 2019.
Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco added that for local voter registration, qualified citizens may submit their documentary requirements and have their biometrics data captured at the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) or at any satellite registration site having jurisdiction over their residence.
The official said apart from the filled-out form, applicants must present and submit competent proof of identity as may be allowed by the Comelec or the appropriate affidavit of identification sworn under law.
For overseas voters who seek to participate in the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, the Comelec said they must transfer their registration record from overseas to local until January 31.
Further, the Comelec will conduct pilot tests of the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) in five select malls in Metro Manila, GMA News reported It will be held every Saturday and Sunday from December 10, 2022 until January 29, 2023 except for the following dates: December 24, 25, 31, and January 1, 2023, the report said.
On seeking to postpone the BARMM polls, Sittie said her bill “aims to give the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) sufficient time to propose, prepare, and legislate significantly measures and lay the foundation to the development and preservation of long-lasting peace in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.”
Khalid meanwhile said that postponing the BARMM polls until 2031 would give the BTA ample time to “legislate the needed Codes and fulfill their promises to the Bangsamoro people.”
He also said that his bill “aims to realize the compliance to the Annex on Normalization under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro and the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro for the reintegration of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) combatants to mainstream society.”
Both bills filed by the Dimaporos allow the sitting President to appoint members of the BTA until an election is held.
The ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law in February 2019 via a plebiscite paved the way for the creation of the BARMM, abolishing the old Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).