Comelec yet to achieve half of 1.5M new voters target for 2023 polls — Garcia

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to achieve half of its expected 1.5 to 2 million new registrants for the 2023 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), Comelec Chairman George Garcia said Tuesday.

"So far po hanggang kahapon, kulang kulang na 400,000 pa lamang ang nagpaparehistro na ating kababayan. Ang atin pong expectation sana mula December 12 hanggang sa katapusan nitong January ay makapagparehistro tayo ng 1.5 to 2 million voters subalit ganyan pa lang karami ang nagpaparehistro," Garcia said in a chance interview.

"Sana po sa mga susunod pang araw hanggang sa bago matapos ang buwan na ito ay mas dumami pa ang magpaparehistro na ating mga kababayan," he added.

(As of yesterday, less than 400,000 voters have registered. We expected 1.5 to 2 million voters to register from December 12 to January. We hope that more voters will register before the month ends.)

The Comelec chief attributed this to Filipinos' mañana habit.

"Pasensya na po pero kalimitan po talaga 'yung ating ugali, ugaling Pilipino na 'Bukas na. Bukas na. May panahon pa naman.' Hanggang sa mga iilang araw na lang, saka tayo magmamadali," Garcia said.

"Alam ninyo po, tatandaan po ng bawat isa sa atin, ang pagpaparehistro ay obligasyon ang pagboto karapatan po 'yan," he reminded the public.

(We think this is because many Filipinos wait for the last minute to register. Let us remember that it is our obligation to register as it is our right to vote.)

Garcia appealed to the public to visit the local Comelec offices, satellite registration sites in malls where the continuing registration is ongoing and avail of the Register Anywhere Project which is being conducted every weekend in select malls.

He maintained that the Comelec is not yet considering the extension of the voter registration which will run until the end of  January.

"In the meantime po, ang Comelec ay naninindigan na hanggang January 31 po tayo sa ating registration. 'Yan po ang ating pinag-usapan at 'yun po ang aming pinagdesisyunan and therefore, hanggang d'yan lang ang registration natin," he said.

(The Comelec stands firm on its decision that the registration will only be until January 31.)

Garcia on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Government Service Insurance System General Manager Jose Arnulfo "Wick" Veloso for the launching of the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) at GSIS Complex.

He said they will also launch RAP at the Senate of the Philippines on January 25 to allow more government workers to register with the Comelec.

The Comelec chairman said they can expand the RAP to all regions in the Philippines but this will depend on the outcome of its pilot implementation.

"So far, ang initial findings napakaganda po talaga ng RAP nabibigyan natin ng pag- asa ang ating mga kababayan na hindi makapagparehistro sa kanilang mga probinsya dahil hindi sila makauwi na makapagparehistro," he said.

"Kung ito po ay mas magiging malawak pa ang kaalaman ng mga kababayan natin, mas palalawakin din po ng Comelec ang coverage. Pwede nga po natin ilagay ang RAP sa lahat na ng regions sa buong Pilipinas sa darating na panahon," he added.

(Our initial findings show that RAP is really good as it gives hope to the voters who cannot go to their provinces to register. We could expand its implementation in different regions in the future.)

Consistent with their advocacy to increase voter registration across the country, Garcia said they will visit Maimbung, Sulu next week and they are eyeing to visit Batanes before the end of January.

"Sa susunod na linggo, hopefully po ay naka-schedule kami para sa Sulu dyan po sa Maimbung, Sulu at sa susunod naman po ay sa Batanes. Titingnan po natin kung kakasya hanggang sa matapos ang Enero," he said.

"Ginagawa po natin 'yung pagpunta sa iba't ibang parte ng ating bansa upang ma-highlight sa ating mga kababayan na kung kami nga po pumupunta sa pinaka-malalayong lugar ng ating bansa, bakit naman hindi kayo makasadya sa ating mga registration sites at makapagparehistro?" he said.

(Next week, we are scheduled to go to Maimbung, Sulu and then to Batanes. We will see if we can finish it this January. We are visiting different parts of the country to highlight to the people that if we can go to far-flung places, why can't they go to the registration sites and register.)

Last week, Garcia disclosed that the Comelec will visit the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan in a bid to increase voter registration in the area.

The voter registration for the 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.—AOL, GMA Integrated News