CEBU CITY – Satellite registration centers here are still swarmed with registrants amid the snowballing calls to suspend the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in December.
Lawyer Marchel Sarno, election officer of the Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Cebu City North District, said they are expecting to draw more registrants in the last day of registration Saturday, July 23.
“We are expecting more people on the last day because it is common that some take action at the last minute,” Sarno said.
Long lines of people were seen Friday, July 22, in one of the satellite registration sites in a mall.
Sarno said that in the north district here, an average of 800 to 900 people visited the Comelec satellite offices to register.
He did not release figures on the total number of people who have registered since the start of the registration last July 4 for the Dec. 5 elections pending official count.
“We will submit the list of registrants for the Election Registration Board hearing and then will prepare the voter’s list for the barangay and SK elections,” said Sarno.
Several lawmakers in the House of Representatives have filed bills calling for the postponement of the elections.
Sarno said all these talks about postponement are still speculation, thus, the Comelec continued preparations for the elections. “These are all speculations and we cannot act on speculations,” Sarno said.
He said in the last day of registration, the Comelec may extend the registration hours. “We can close early or we can extend the cut-off. It will depend on the number people who will try to register on that day,” Sarno said.