Comelec observes high turnout on the last day of voter registration

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) saw a high registration turnout during the last day of voter registration on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

In a statement, Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco stated that as of the closing time at 5:00 p.m., reports from the ground show a high registration turnout with an average of 600 applications per registration site received.

He mentioned that Comelec through the Education and Information Department (EID), in coordination with the Offices of the Regional Election Director for the National Capital Region (NCR), Regions III and IV-A, deployed monitoring teams to all registration sites in the National Capital Region (NCR) and select localities in the nearby provinces of Cavite and Bulacan.

Apart from the monitoring teams, Laudiangco said that Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia, Commissioner Socorro B. Inting, Commissioner Rey E. Bulay and Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand P. Maceda Jr., visited some sites in NCR, Cavite (Bacoor and Imus) and Bulacan (San Jose Del Monte and Meycauayan) to observe first-hand and gather much-needed feedback both from the COMELEC personnel and the public about their last-day registration experiences unique to each site.

Garcia also mentioned that there will be no extension even in the areas affected by floods since regional directors, provincial supervisors, and election officers did not ask for one. In the latest data that it provided, Comelec was able to reach the 2 million mark, after recording a total of 2,085,142 registrants.

Regarding the younger registrants, he stated that it's a very good sign for our country.

"The young ones are making their presence felt wanting to control the destiny of the Filipino race. Now our future is secured," he added.

Meanwhile, ommissioner Marlon S. Casquejo, Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino, and Commissioner Nelson J. Celis, on the other hand, likewise made an observation and monitoring rounds in the registration sites in the Mindanao provinces.

Anticipating the last-day registration scenario, most registration sites in NCR were transferred to venues inside partner malls for accessibility and for the convenience of the public, as most Offices of the Election Officer (OEOs) lack adequate office spaces to accommodate the influx of registrants.

Registrants who queued at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. were duly accommodated, respectively, following Comelec Resolution No. 10868 and the Jan. 30 2023 Memorandum of the Election and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) duly approved by Garcia.

In spite of the high influx of registrants, lines were manageable and queuing was smooth, with zero untoward incidents reported.

"The entire Commission en banc and field personnel convey its gratitude to our partner malls, and other government agencies such as the Philippine National Police (PNP), for providing critical assistance in order to ensure orderliness and the safety of all participants in the registration processes," Laudiangco said in the statement.