MANILA, Philippines — Voter registration hours throughout the country have been extended and now include holidays to encourage more Filipinos to register and vote in 2022, the elections commission said Sunday.
Comelec said its offices will accept registrations from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the schedule taking effect starting tomorrow, February 15 until end-September.
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"The designated disinfection day will be moved from Fridays to Mondays," the agency said, "in addition to daily disinfection measures being conducted."
Filipinos abroad between April 10 to May 9, 2022, meanwhile, may register as overseas voters, with the last day for applications set on September 30 of this year.
The poll body released last week its dates for filing of candidacies and other election-related activities, with the crucial decision day to be held more than a year from now.
Comelec officials have urged more individuals of voting age to register, with spokesperson James Jimenez saying that while a million new voters were recorded by mid-January, the effort had been slow due to coronavirus pandemic-related curbs.
Earlier in February, Commissioner Rowena Guanzon urged the youth to take part too, saying the agency is eyeing some three million 18-year-old voters for 2022.
She said turnout of registrants had been dismal in areas like Metro Manila, where only 260,000 of the more than 462,000 target have signed up, 112,000 out of 314,320 in Western Visayas and only 130,000 so far in Eastern Visayas from their goal of 323,000.
The Comelec scheduled the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president, senator and party-lists from February 8 to May 7, 2022, while the campaign period for candidates for congressmen and elective local officials is from March 25 to May 7, 2022.
Filing of candidacies is set from October 1 to 8, with the campaign period for national positions from February 8 to May 7, 2022.
The campaign period for those running for House seats and for local positions, meanwhile, is from March 25 and will also end two days before the May 9 election day. — Christian Deiparine with reports from Xave Gregorio, and The STAR/Sheila Crisostomo