COMELEC TO EXPAND REGISTER ANYWHERE PROGRAM

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will expand the coverage of its Register Anywhere Project (RAP) following the successful pilot implementation of the scheme during the voter registration for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

“The RAP pilot testing is very successful. We had fully achieved the goal of pilot testing our systems and IT infrastructure on the possibility of remote registration while remaining fully compliant to Republic Act (RA) 8189 (Continuing Voter’s Registration Act),” Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Thursday.

Garcia added the project has greatly benefited non-resident workers, overseas Filipino workers, students and transients, among others.

“Therefore, it’s just a matter of expanding the training as well as the number of RAP staff, strengthening Comelec IT infrastructure, further hardening of cybersecurity, identification of strategic areas for RAP sites sufficient to establish nationwide coverage, and more collaborations and partnerships with malls throughout the country,” he said.

RAP allows voters to register in satellite registration centers other than in the city or municipality where they reside.

SM Fairview, SM Mall of Asia, SM South Mall, Robinsons Place Manila and Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons North in Tacloban City, SM City in Legazpi City, Albay, Robinsons Place in Naga City, Camarines Sur, as well as facilities of the Government Services Insurance

Service, Department of Social Welfare and Services, Senate of the Philippines and the House of Representatives were used as registration centers during the scheme’s pilot launch.

The RAP ran from Dec. 17, 2022, to Jan. 22, 2023.