‘LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE’: COMELEC-6 okay with registration extension, but…

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The regional director of the Commission on Election-Region 6 (COMELEC-6) said Wednesday that while they welcome the extension of voter’s registration to Oct. 31, 2021, they fear that it may affect other election-related activities, especially amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

COMELEC spokesperson Atty. James Jimenez confirmed via Twitter that the poll body’s en banc had voted to extend voter registration between Oct. 11 to 31.

This extension comes only a day before voter’s registration was originally scheduled to end today, Sept. 30.

The passage of bills extending voter registration in the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as delay in the COMELEC’s budget hearings, were seen as reasons why the poll body budged.

They had already voted against an extension back in August, with Jimenez saying that these may delay other preparations leading up to May 9, 2022.

As an effect, voter registration would be suspended from Oct. 1 to 8, which is the schedule for the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC) and Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA).

COMELEC-6 Regional Director Atty. Wilfred Jay Balisado told Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Wednesday that they were “good soldiers” and would wait for the guidance of the central office in Manila on the said extension.

In the meantime, he says that they will focus their energies in the COC filing in the coming days.

Balisado admitted that the registration extension will affect the other election-related activities, including the projection of election precincts and the printing of ballots.

He said that this may cause a “logistical nightmare” on the part of the COMELEC, especially due to COVID-19-related restrictions.

“We should remember that we are in a pandemic, so unlike before that we can double our efforts by extending the time by hiring more people to do the job. But now, we cannot hire more people or double it because of the limitations in some areas. We are also considering health protocols, so the COMELEC’s schedule will be jammed, but we will do our part,” Balisado said.

As to the long queues of voter registrations in the past days, he said that registration was better in other areas of the region, while the city and province of Iloilo were hit hardest by restrictions.

Iloilo City suspended voter’s registration starting May 24, and Iloilo province on June 16, as both were placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).

Both areas resumed registrations on September 6 after the COMELEC en banc on Sept. 1 allowed the resumption in MECQ areas.

But Balisado also mentioned that Iloilo province alone has registered 477,000 new voters.

He did point out that COVID had also affected other offices, like in Bacolod City where operations were suspended after one worker tested positive for the virus.

The virus also affected one town in Iloilo, where suspensions are affecting the filing of COCs in the coming week.

While they have the capacity to do emergency hiring, Balisado said that the new hires would not match the efficiency of the long-time employees who would get sick.

“Iloilo is the hardest-hit by the pandemic, since we suspended registration for 3 months. The areas which were most affected were Iloilo City and Iloilo province. In other areas, there were many who have registered, but not as much as Iloilo City and municipalities in Iloilo province,” he explained.

He also discouraged non-essential registrations, like barangay transfers within the same town, to avoid crowding.

“If you’re voting for a councilor or mayor at-large, we hope you can see the light and ask yourself why you’d have to fall in line there, so just give your slots to those who are in need to vote, especially those who are first-time voters,” he said.

For the filing of the COCs, he said that candidates should have already fulfilled all their COCs and CONAs “to save time and avoid crowding”. Face shield and face masks will be required inside election offices.