Pangasinan: Low turn out in list-up for barangay polls

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines – Registrants for the barangay elections yielded low turn out in Pangasinan but Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials noted a surprisingly high number of registrants for the Sangguniang Kabataan for the Oct. 25 elections.

Lawyer Reddy Balarbar, provincial election supervisor of Pangasinan told The STAR yesterday that from the time the registration for the barangay elections started in Aug. 4 up to their Aug. 11 record, there were only more than 51,000 registrants in all the 44 towns and four cities in Pangasinan.

“Admittedly, for barangay registration, it’s really low because we expect to have at least 48,000, but I doubt if we can reach that number until the deadline the other day, Friday,” he said.

He estimated an average of 100 registrants daily in every town or city here and for the 10-day registration period, there should be at least 48,000 new registrants. 

Relatedly, he said they were also surprised that many youths enlisted for the SK elections with about more than 51,000 registrants recorded based on their Aug. 11 data.

SK registration which started on Aug. 6 ended Sunday.

He said youths, aged 15 to 17, wearing their school uniforms, trooped to Comelec offices for the registration. 

Meanwhile, the SK National Federation is opposing the government’s plan to abolish SK, saying the youth will lose their only venue to directly help in nation-building.

“Mawawalan na ng tiyak na lugar ang mga kabataan kung saan sila maaaring tumindig at makiisa sa pagtataguyod ng bansa,” said SK National Federation president Jane Censoria Cajes in a radio interview.

Cajes is the first woman president of SK National Federation and the first who ran unopposed.

“Ang kailangan ng SK ay patatagin ang sistema at huwag i-abolish upang lalo pa itong maging epektibong paraan upang makatulong ang mga kabataan sa pagpapaunlad ng bansa,” Cajes said.

Contrary to the belief of some sectors, Cajes said that SK has served as a honing ground for countless leaders who are now active in politics and helping in the country’s development.