Comelec sets voter registration on Dec 12

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday said it will conduct voter registration from December 12 until the end of January 2023 via the Register Anywhere Program (RAP).

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the pilot testing of the RAP will be done in coordination with the House of Representatives, the Senate, and Comelec’s branches in Region 5 (Bicol) and Region 8 (Eastern Visayas).

Garcia said security measures were put in place to ensure a credible outcome of RAP’s pilot testing.

“We have programs to countercheck if those voters are [registering double or multiple]. In fact, earlier in the en banc, we discussed the continuation of filing cases against those who we saw and will see who are double or multiple registrants,” Garcia said.

He added that the poll body had initially signed a memorandum of agreement with five malls as registration venues, with the details soon to be released to the public.

Meanwhile, Garcia said the Comelec’s preparation is on track for the conduct of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), which was set on the last Monday of October 2023.

“We are only here to enforce the election law. So, we should be ready any time to implement the election law regardless of the electoral exercise we do. Our commitment is always, whatever our Congress tells us, what our Supreme Court says, then we have to follow,” Garcia said.

The Supreme Court is currently deliberating a petition filed by veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal seeking to declare as unconstitutional Republic Act 11935, which postponed the BSKE to October 2023.

Macalintal on November 14 filed a motion for the issuance of a temporary restraining order that will allow the BSKE to be held earlier than the date mandated by the law.