The Commission on Elections has started the registration of voters in preparation for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 2023.
In Baguio City, the Comelec had set up a center at the City Hall on the first day of the registration on Dec. 12 to accommodate more registrants.
City Election Officer Atty. John Paul Martin said as of Dec. 15, a total of 242 individuals have registered, 127 were accommodated at City Hall on Dec. 12; 70 on Dec. 13; 35 on Dec. 14; and Dec. 15 as of noon, all at the Comelec-Baguio.
Martin said their office is accommodating all kinds of registrations, which include new registration, transfer and registration, reactivation of records, and correction of record entries.
Comelec-Baguio is open on weekdays this month until Jan. 31, 2023, the last day of registration.
Martin encourages qualified registrants for the barangay and SK elections to visit their office earlier to avoid long line days before the last day of the registration.
He said they made the process easier and faster now by reducing the number of forms to be filled out by every registrant from the previous three to only one form.
“Ngayon isang kopya na lang because the second and third copies will already be digitized.
Medyo napabilis ang proseso, mabilis ang capturing (of biometrics) because we have enough terminals to accommodate them.We guarantee this time na hindi masyadong time consuming ang ating pagpaparehistro except of course of the possibility na sabay sabay sila. But to prevent this, ngayon pa lang unang araw o linggo, puntahan na nila kami para mas mabilis ang pagpaparehistro,” he said, adding the office can accommodate up to 1,200 registrants a day.
Martin said they will target schools next year to encourage more to register, especially students 15 years old and up and those who will be 15 years old at the time of the elections.
Comelec Baguio is also in the process of negotiations with a mall in the city and is hoping to conduct one month of registration in the establishment next year.
It has registered more than 10,000 residents during the registration period set before the December 2022 barangay and SK elections were postponed to October 2023. – Hanna C. Lacsamana
