Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair George Garcia disclosed that the Comelec has yet to achieve half of its expected 1.5 million to 2 million new registrants for the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
Garcia, quoted by a GMA News report said “As of yesterday, less than 400,000 voters have registered. We expected 1.5 to 2 million voters to register from December 12 to January. We hope that more voters will register before the month ends.”
Garcia said this might be due to Filipinos’ mañana habit. “We think this is because many Filipinos wait for the last minute to register. Let us remember that it is our obligation to register as it is our right to vote.”
The poll chief also appealed to the public to visit the local Comelec offices and satellite registration sites in malls where the continuing registration is ongoing and avail of the Register Anywhere Project which is being conducted every weekend in select malls.
He maintained that the Comelec is not yet considering the extension of the voter registration which will run until the end of January.
Garcia further said the poll body “stands firm on its decision that the registration will only be until January 31.”
Garcia on Tuesday meanwhile signed a memorandum of understanding with Government Service Insurance System General Manager Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso for the launching of the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) at GSIS Complex, GMA News also reported.
Garcia said the two agencies will also launch RAP at the Senate of the Philippines on January 25 to allow more government workers to register with the Comelec.
Garcia said they can expand the RAP to all regions in the Philippines but this will depend on the outcome of its pilot implementation.
“Our initial findings show that RAP is really good as it gives hope to the voters who cannot go to their provinces to register. We could expand its implementation in different regions in the future,” the official said.
Consistent with their advocacy to increase voter registration across the country, Garcia said they will visit Maimbung, Sulu next week and they are eyeing to visit Batanes before the end of January.
“Sa susunod na linggo, hopefully po ay naka-schedule kami para sa Sulu dyan po sa Maimbung, Sulu at sa susunod naman po ay sa Batanes. Titingnan po natin kung kakasya hanggang sa matapos ang Enero,” he said.
“Ginagawa po natin ‘yung pagpunta sa iba’t ibang parte ng ating bansa upang ma-highlight sa ating mga kababayan na kung kami nga po pumupunta sa pinaka-malalayong lugar ng ating bansa, bakit naman hindi kayo makasadya sa ating mga registration sites at makapagparehistro?” he said.
(Next week, we are scheduled to go to Maimbung, Sulu and then to Batanes. We will see if we can finish it this January. We are visiting different parts of the country to highlight to the people that if we can go to far-flung places, why can’t they go to the registration sites and register.)
Last week, Garcia disclosed that the Comelec will visit the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan in a bid to increase voter registration in the area.
The voter registration for the BSKE started on December 12, 2022 and will end on January 31, 2023.
Registrants may go to the office of the election officer or satellite registration sites in their areas from Monday to Saturday, including holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Register Anywhere Project meanwhile runs from December 17, 2022 to January 25, 2023.
The BSKE was supposed to be held in December 2022 but was moved to October 2023.