Iloilo voter signups surge before BSKE deadline

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Commission on Elections Iloilo City was overwhelmed by a surge of last-minute applicants on the final day of voter registration for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections on Monday, May 18, prompting the poll body to impose a strict processing cutoff.

At noon, Comelec Iloilo City announced that the distribution of voter registration forms would end at 1:30 p.m., after which no additional applicants would be accommodated.

The final-day registration activity was held at Robinsons Place Iloilo in City Proper, where two cinemas inside the mall were designated as waiting areas for applicants.

Those who arrived before the cutoff were issued wristbands and application forms as proof that they were within the processing limit.

“We were overwhelmed but we were used to it especially on the last day of registration but nonetheless we were prepared to make the registration systematic,” Jonathan Sayno, election assistant II of Comelec Iloilo City, told Daily Guardian.

Sayno said the office capped the number of registrants at around 1,700 for the day to ensure that all applications could be processed and biometrics captured before the legal deadline.

“The cut-off is to ensure that we would know how many applicants we can accommodate. If we hit the 1,700, and beyond that, we can no longer accommodate their registration because we might not finish before 12 midnight,” he said.

He stressed that applications processed beyond the midnight deadline of May 19 would no longer be included in the official voters’ list.

Sayno said the cutoff was necessary because of the time required for biometric capture and verification.

“The cut off we set is based on our capacity to process their registration through the capturing of their biometrics data. After that, their registration is already considered accepted or processed,” he added.

Sayno said one of the common issues encountered during the final day of registration involved the Register Anywhere Program, as some applicants believed the program was still available.

However, he clarified that the RAP in Iloilo City had already concluded on April 24.

The program previously allowed first-time voters and existing voters to register, transfer, reactivate, or correct records outside their home barangays.

Comelec Iloilo City said it had earlier conducted voter registration activities in 73 satellite venues, including schools, malls, barangay halls, and gymnasiums, to improve accessibility and decongest registration centers.

Since the start of voter registration on Oct. 20, 2025, the office has recorded 25,004 registered applicants as of May 16.

Of the total, around 17,000 registrations filed from Oct. 20 to March 31 have already been approved by the Election Registration Board, while 8,995 applications filed from April 1 to May 16 remain under evaluation.

Comelec Iloilo City reported a total of 306,367 eligible voters for the BSKE, including the approved registrations from Oct. 20 to March 31.

The BSKE is scheduled for Nov. 2, 2026.