Comelec to visit Kalayaan in Palawan on January 14 to increase voter registration

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is set to visit the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan in a bid to increase the voter registration in the area, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said Tuesday.

"Plano rin pong pumunta ng Komisyon sa Kalayaan Island ngayong January 14 para i-highlight ang registration ng ating mga kababayan hindi lamang sa mga lugar na nakikita ng lahat, kung hindi kahit sa mga lugar katulad ng Kalayaan Island," he said.

(The Commission is planning to visit Kalayaan Island on January 14 to highlight the registration of our countrymen who are in remote areas.)

Apart from Kalayaan, the Comelec also intends to visit other remote islands such as Batanes and Tawi-Tawi, Garcia said.

"Ito ay para mas maitaas natin 'yung antas ng kaalaman ng mga kababayan natin na magparehistro sila at i-avail lalong lalo na 'yung Register Anywhere Program (RAP) natin," he said.

(This visit aims to increase the level of awareness of our countrymen about the need for them to register and for them to avail of our Register Anywhere program.)

When asked why they chose Kalayaan, Garcia said the Comelec wanted to show that the body gives importance to areas which have a lesser number of voters.

"Sabihin na natin na hindi gano'n kadami ang mga kababayan natin ano. Pero that is very symbolic on the part of the Commission on Elections to prove that we can register anywhere, all Filipinos kahit sa Kalayaan Islands," he said.

(We can say there are not so many of our countrymen there. But that is very symbolic on the part of the Commission on Elections because we want to prove that we can register all Filipinos anywhere, even on Kalayaan Islands.)

Garcia said they will use a Philippine Air Force plane going to Kalayaan and there is already ongoing coordination with authorities who will assist them during their visit.

The voter registration for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) started on December 12, 2022 and will end on January 31, 2023.

Registrants may go to the office of the election officer or satellite registration sites in their areas from Monday to Saturday, including holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Register Anywhere Project meanwhile runs from December 17, 2022 to January 25, 2023.

The BSKE was supposed to be held in December 2022 but was moved to October 2023. —KG, GMA Integrated News