The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Wednesday, Nov. 9 that it set to pilot the Register Anywhere Project (RAP) in five select malls in the National Capital Region (NCR) on Dec. 17.
In a statement sent by Comelec Spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco following the approval on Oct. 26 by the en banc of its operational plan.
Laudiangco said that the five malls will be determined by a later date, and will be conducted every Saturday and Sunday from Dec. 17 until Jan. 29, 2023 (except December 24, 25 and 31, 2022, and January 1, 2023).
During the pilot period, any qualified applicant residing anywhere in the country can conveniently register at the RAP booths in designated NCR malls. They may submit their application form, and documentary requirements and have their biometrics taken on-site. Previously, only the residents of the locality where the mall is located were allowed to register in mall registration sites.
The submitted documents and captured biometrics data shall then be endorsed and transmitted by the recipient RAP teams to the OEO of the district/city/municipality having jurisdiction over the residence of the applicant for the requisite verification, publication/posting, and Election Registration Board (ERB) Hearing.
As part of the approved operational plan, the COMELEC conducted the initial internal end-to-end demonstration of the RAP on Nov. 4 in Robinsons Place, Ermita, Manila. Led by Chairman George Erwin Garcia and Commissioner Rey Bulay, the activity sought to fine-tune the system before it is officially rolled out to the public.
"The senior officials and department heads in attendance were provided an opportunity to witness and experience first-hand the areas that would benefit from further improvement, so that any issues may be swiftly and adequately addressed," Laudiangco said.
"Following the on-site internal demonstration and project benchmarking of the RAP, which generated useful insights and practical learnings, the Comelec looks forward to officially kick-off the series of public demonstrations and simulations which will be open to the general public, the media, and all other electoral stakeholders," he added.
Laudiangco also emphasized that a public demonstration will be conducted before the actual rollout, with the date/s, therefore, to be announced later on.
At the moment, he mentioned every step of the processes is currently being studied and improved, most particularly on the information technology infrastructure part. As we know, aside from the operational processes, the RAP is largely dependent on current IT infrastructure and resources.
"We are looking likewise on improving the on-site set-up vis-a-vis the select mall sites and spaces allocated for the purpose, including crowd queuing and people-traffic management. It is to be remembered that the RAP will be simultaneously conducted Saturdays and Sundays alongside regular Voter’s Registration," he said.