It is up to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to decide on the deferment of the voters' registration period, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) has recommended the deferment of the registration of voters but will let the poll body make the decision.
"It’s not a decision of the IATF. In fact, the IATF recommends also the deferment of the registration. Kaya lang po, hindi pupuwedeng diktahan ang constitutional body, dahil ang Comelec po ay constitutional body (But we can dictate on a constitutional body because Comelec is a constitutional body),” he said during a televised press briefing.
"We can only recommend to the Comelec but the final decision will be (made by) the Comelec because it is a constitutional body tasked with the conduct of voter’s registration,” he added.
The poll body had resumed the registration of voters last September 1 in preparation for the May 2022 national and local elections. The registration was suspended back in March after the government enforced strict lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Applicants are advised to get an application form from the Comelec website before heading to the poll offices in their communities. Health protocols such as wearing masks and face shields will be enforced in the poll offices to avoid the spread of the coronavirus infection.