More than 40,000 indigenous people voted during the recent national and local elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
Based on the partial data of Comelec as of May 14, a total 40,319 indigeneous people participated in the general elections last May 9. The figure represents 6.05 percent of the total number of registered voters among the said sector which was at 666,308.
"I know yun pong turnout may not be that great but we have to highlight something. Sila Commissioner Ferolino po they went to an indigeneous community in Roxas, Palawan... ang registered voters po doon ay (The team led by Commissioner Ferolino went to an indigeneous community in Roxas, Palawan ... the registered voters there are) 122 indigenious people," said Comelec Acting Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco in a press briefing on Saturday.
"Napaka ganda po ng resulta (The result was good) despite the difficulty in conducting the voting there. Ang voter turnout po sa pinuntahan nila Commissioner Ferolino ay (The voter turnout where Commissioner Ferolino went was at) 96 percent—117 out of the 122 registered indigenous people voters there voted," he added.
Laudiangco said that the Comelec will continue to conduct voter information among the said sector to encourage them to participate in the succeeding elections.
"The good Commissioner will be pursuing this advocacy of Comelec and mandate to conduct more voter information," he said.
In a related development, Comelec partial data also showed that only 50,068 senior citizens voted during the election out of the 10,085,956 registered voters under this sector.
Only 2,293 out of the 511,612 persons with disabilities had cast their votes. Meanwhile, 5,911 out of the 52,074 persons deprived of liberty participated in the recent elections.