Akbayan seeks extension of SK voters’ registration

AKBAYAN youth members are seeking the extension of the registration for the Sanguniang Kabaatan (SK) election scheduled on February 2015.

In behalf of their youth members, Cebu City Councilor Alvin Dizon, a member of the progressive group, said he will also be writing the Department of Education to help disseminate information of the ongoing registration.

Registration for SK election voters aged 15 to 17 years old is scheduled from September 20 to 29.

Mikay Dumaboc of the Akbayan Cebu Youth and the First Time Voters Network said SK voters are having difficulties in registering because registrations are held on class days.

Akbayan is lobbying for the extension of registration until the semestral break.

Carlo Cabatingan of the Cebu City Youth Commission said they passed a resolution in last week’s meeting asking barangay officials through the Association of Barangay Councils to provide buses which SK voters could use in going to the Comelec City north and south offices.

Cebu City north district election officer Marchel Sarno said they have not received any word from Comelec on the possible extension of SK registration.

He said that registration only takes about five to ten minutes and his 10 to 20 personnel deployed to accommodate SK election voters could register at least 300 persons per day.

But they barely register 100 new voters per day.

In Talisay City, Tereso Oca, a personnel of Comelec said the poor information dissemination might be blamed of the low turnout and also for suspending the SK elections last year.

Oca is hopeful that youths may come to their office and to participate within this week and to the following week.

Qualified to register are any Filipino citizen that are at least 15 years old but below 18 years of age on Election Day, and are actually residing in the barangay for at least six months before Election Day.