Comelec reports 1.7M registrants on eve of deadline
Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila. Inquirer files
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Saturday that more than 1.7 million Filipinos have listed up as voters on the eve of the deadline of the 10-day nationwide registration period.
The poll body said a total of 1,725,297 individuals have filed applications from Aug. 1 to Aug. 9, a day after President Marcos publicly announced he would sign a bill to postpone the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from Oct. 13 to November next year.
Marcos said the postponement would allow the Comelec to focus on the first-ever parliamentary election for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
READ: Marcos to sign bill postponing barangay, SK polls
Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia earlier complained that pushing through with the BKSE postponement would pose problems because of the Bangsamoro elections in October.
Both houses of Congress agreed with the Comelec and enrolled a bill for the postponement.
Garcia said he was only hoping that the President would heed the poll body’s appeal and agree to signing the still-unnumbered into law.
Garcia earlier said postponing the BKSE would not only ensure the success of the Bangsamoro election, but also allow the Comelec to register even more voters, particularly new voters.
Garcia expressed satisfaction at the data emerging from the 10-day registration activity.
“In just five days, we have registered throughout the Philippines some 1.1 million, the first time it happened in the history of our elections,” Garcia said.
Beyond adjusted targets
By Saturday, the number had reached 1.7 million registrants and is expected to increase further once Marcos signs the pending bill that resets the BSKE polls to November 2026.
At least six regions posted over 100,000 applications each, with Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) leading the count at 217,386, followed by Central Luzon (180,305), Bicol Region (137,129), National Capital Region (129,943), Central Visayas (117,631) and Ilocos Region (115,803).
Meanwhile, the Cordillera Administrative Region recorded the lowest number of applicants with 32,369.
With the BSKE’s looming postponement, Garcia can expand its implementation of its Register Anywhere, Anytime Program (RAP) after its successful initial run in Metro Manila.
Garcia said they are planning to implement an enhanced RAP in all regions once the pending bill is signed.
“In hospitals, airports, terminals, call centers, they are so happy because we are bringing our services to them,” he said. —PNA
