Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia on Thursday, August 4, said he already issued a directive for the resumption of the issuance of the voter's certification.

"We already instructed the Information Technology Department (ITD) to resume the issuance of the certification," he said during the Laging Handa public briefing.

Garcia said overseas Filipino workers were unable to apply or renew their passports because the issuance of the voter's certification was temporarily put on hold following the fire incident at their main office in Intramuros, Manila, Sunday, July 31.

"I asked that for the certifications to be issued right away. Hopefully, tomorrow or Monday we will be able to start issuing voter registration certification again," he said.

The Election Officer issues the voter's certifications, which shall serve as temporary voter's ID cards, upon the request of registrants whose applications for registration have been approved by the Election Registrarion Board.

The temporary voter's ID card shall be valid for a period one year from the date of its issuance.

In the same briefing, Garcia was also asked regarding hybrid polls.

He said it is his personal position to support hybrid elections ever since he was a practitioner of election law.

"It may cause delays for an hour to an hour and a half. But, at least, the people will be able to see not just the results in the machines but also their ballots and their votes actually being read and tallied," Garcia said.

Under the hybrid election system, voting and counting will be manual while transmission and canvassing will be automated.