Año backs mayors’ proposal to postpone voter registration

MANILA, Philippines — Interior and Local Goverment Secretary Eduardo Año has expressed support for the proposal of Metro Manila mayors to suspend the voter registration to keep the government’s gains in the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Año said the postponement could give local government units the leeway to focus on COVID-19 response efforts and prohibit mass gatherings.

“The mayors requested kung pwede i-postpone muna ang voter registration para maiwasan ang  mass gatherings. We want COVID cases to go down at may mga indicators na magpa-flatten ang curve so sana tuloy-tuloy ang ating momentum,” he said in an interview on dzBB.

The proposal has been forwarded to the COVID policy-making inter-agency task force and will be discussed in its meeting today.

Año said it is up to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to heed the recommendation to move the voter registration to January.

The Comelec is a constitutional body that has its own schedules and calendar, Año said.

“Kung hindi naman made-derail ang kanilang schedule mas maganda sana na mapagbigyan ang mga mayors natin para maka focus sila sa pag-isolate ng mga COVID cases,” he said.

On the matter of the conduct of the 2020 census of population and housing by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Año said it may still push through.

Unlike the voter registration that could lead to mass gatherings in Comelec offices, the census would be done house-to-house with proper health protocols.

Año said only authorized and legitimate personnel will be deployed by the PSA to conduct census.

The postponement of the voter registration and the census was recommended by the Metro Manila Council amid fears of virus transmission.