To “last minute” registrants: Please be patient - Comelec

CEBU, Philippines - After almost a year of campaigning for voters to avoid last minute registration, the Commission on Election is now preparing for a busy week and asks registrants who wish to be accommodated before the October 31 deadline to be patient.

Comelec-Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said they hope to attend to as many registrants as they can, although they aimed to lessen last minute registrations in the past months as they asked the public to register as early as possible.

“We have been waiting for them for a year to register, if they fail, so then it’s not our loss but theirs,” he said.

 “I don’t want to blame them but pasensya na pero you have to endure the long lines. So maghuwat ta and magsinabtanay,” he added.

Comelec recently extended its office hours from the usual eight hours to 12 hours daily, until as late as 9 pm, since last week to accommodate new voters and those voters without biometrics data.

Castillano also said satellite registration centers in malls in Metro Cebu will observe the 12-hour shift from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to serve more registrants.

The 12-hour shifts will conclude this Saturday, October 31, the deadline for voters to register. This is part of the “Huling Hirit” campaign of the poll body.

 For Cebu City, offsite registrations started last October 11, 18 and 25 and will have another schedule on October 30 and 31 at Robinsons Cybergate, and today until the 29th at Ayala Center Cebu. For Mandaue City, offsite registration will start today until October 31 at Pacific Mall.

 He said some of the local government units have extended support to their office through additional manpower and served as support system during the registration period.

To hasten the registration, Castillano said they will be giving additional data capturing machines. Four of the machines will be given to Cebu City Comelec offices while Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu cities will be getting three each.

 In normal days, Comelec offices in highly-urbanized cities can accommodate 300 transactions per biometric data capturing machine. Biometrics registration records voter’s digital photograph, signature and fingerprints.

The Comelec stressed that after the October 31 deadline, there will be no more extension for the voter’s registration, including the submission of biometrics data.

Based on the record of Comelec-Cebu as of September 30 this year, 109, 117, or 4.22 percent of the 2.5 million registered voters in the entire province, have yet to submit their biometrics records.

The figure only decreased by 15,188 from August’s data.

Under Republic Act 10367 or the Act Providing for Mandatory Biometrics Voter Registration, voters who fail to submit the biometrics data will be deactivated from the voters’ list and not be allowed to vote.

The Comelec record also shows that Mandaue City has the most number of voters without biometrics data at 17, 145 out of 168,959 registered voters.

Mandaue City is followed by the first district of Cebu City at 12,124 out of 267,295 registered voters, then the second district at 9, 036 out of 310, 388 registered voters.  (FREEMAN)