Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon noted the poll body has sufficient funds to expand its voter’s registration program under the 2020 and 2021 national budgets.
“Let us use it to buy more biometric gadgets, hire more consultants or job order employees and even rent out a bigger space or venue of voter registration,” Drilon said in a statement.
“Huwag nap o nating tipirin ang budget. Kung kailangan dalhin sa bawat barangay ang voters’ registration, (Let’s not scrimp on the budget. If we need to go to every barangay for the voters’ registration), the Comelec must do it,” the minority leader said.
Drilon added there is no way the Comelec can reach its target number of voters for next year’s election at the rate of 50 to 70 registrants per day. He said the lack of sufficient biometric scanner is further slowing down the process as there is only one scanner per Comelec office.
The senator also pointed out the lack of bigger office in all districts to accommodate a large number of applicants, adding that this makes voters’ registration process complicated.
“We are running out of time. Comelec should intensify its efforts to install more registration sites,” he said.
“They can coordinate with the homeowner’s associations to open their clubhouse or basketball courts for the registration. They can coordinate with the churches to open their doors. The National Secretariat of Social Action had offered to facilitate opening up of the Churches,” he pointed out.
Drilon also said the Comelec should hire more IT people who lost their jobs to manage the satellite registration all over the country. These people, he said, are knowledgeable on how to operate biometric machines; it can also generate income for them for at least three to four months.
“They can be accompanied by a Comelec civil servant who can supervise the operation,” he said.