Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia (PNA photo by Ferdinand Patinio)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the holding of a special voter registration in areas affected by Typhoon Julian is up to local poll officials.
The typhoon lashed the province of Batanes and brought gusty winds and heavy rains in most of northern Luzon, prompting the suspension of the supposed last day of voter sign-up on Monday.
“Sa ating guidelines, pinapaubaya na natin sa local Comelec ang pagdesisyon. Later on, pwede naman magkaroon ng isang araw ng special registration after the COC (certificate of candidacy) filing. Pinagpapaubaya na lang kailan continuation ng huling araw ng registration (Based on our guidelines, we leave the decision to the local Comelec. Later on, they can have a special registration after the COC filing. It's up to them on when to hold the last day of the registration),” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an interview.
"Tama lang po yan sapagkat dapat mas unahin ang buhay at kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan at tauhan ng Comelec (That is only proper because the lives and safety of the people and Comelec personnel should be prioritized)," he added.
As for the filing of COC which starts on Tuesday and runs until Oct. 8, the local offices may also suspend COC filing due to bad weather.
Successful voter sign-up
Garcia said he is happy with the results of the nationwide voter registration which started on Feb. 12.
"Naging successful po ang voter registration. Projection natin na halos 3 million (voters), na-accomplish naman. Bagamat nakakalungkot na may 5.37 million na deactivated voters. Baka projection natin na number of voters ay 68 million sa halip na 70 million (The voter registration was successful. We have a projection of almost 3 million and it was accomplished. It is just saddening because we have 5.37 million deactivated voters. We project the figure of voters to be at 68 million instead of 70 million),” he said.
He said the next voter registration might be in July or August next year, before the next Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Garcia ordered all the local offices to accommodate all applicants who had queued before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said there are 6.9 million voter registrants.
Of the running total, some 3 million of them are newly registered voters.
"We expect the numbers to increase further after we include those that applied since Saturday until those that applied today (Monday)," he said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayong public briefing. (PNA)
