Comelec Cebu City goes offsite for last 3 days of voter’s registration

The Commission on Elections in Cebu City is conducting an offsite registration at the Robinsons Galleria at the North Reclamation Area for the last days of the registration period. | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Election (Comelec) in Cebu City has moved the voters’ registration for the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections to a mall in the North Reclamation Area to accommodate more registrants.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, election officer of Cebu City North District, said the registration has been moved from the Comelec office at Osmeña Boulevard to the third and fourth floors of Robinsons Galleria.

This means they will no longer accept registrants at the Comelec office in the city, said Sarno.

Instead, voters from the city’s North District can register at the third floor of the Galleria while voters from the South District can register at the fifth floor of the same mall.

Sarno said they had expected an influx of registrants for the last days of the registration starting  today,  Friday, September 27, until the last day of the registration on Monday, September 30.

Moving the registration to Robinson Galleria will allow the Comelec to accommodate more registrants, at same time provide a more convenient service.

He said if they conducted the registration at the Comelec office, the heat might cause the registrants to be impatient.

“Mao na atong awhag lang gyud sa atong mga magparegister pa nga magdala silag tubig ug magdala silag pasensya. (Our request to the registrants is for them to bring water and to be patient),” Sarno told CDN Digital by phone on Friday.

Sarno urged the public to register now as there may no longer be an extension of the registration dates.

He also said that if too many people will register on Monday, they may cut off the line early in order to make sure that everyone in the line will be able to register.

The registration will end at 5 p.m. and will only be extended for those who are still part of the cut off line. If they miss the registration on Monday, they will not be able to vote in the May 2020 elections.

But unregistered voters may still have another chance to register if the Senate approves the bill to move the barangay and SK elections to 2022.

On Tuesday, September 24, 2019, the Senate approved on second reading  Senate Bill No. 1043 that moves the youth and barangay polls to 2022. It will go through a third reading before it can be approved in a bicameral conference with the Lower House. Only then can it be signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address in July 2019, he already expressed his desire to move the barangay elections to 2022.

However, as of now, Sarno said there will be no extension of the registration, and the public should do well to register in the last days of the registration period if they want to vote. /elb