The Freeman

Party seeks extension

VOTER REGISTRATI­ON

- — Mitchelle L. Palaubsano­n/ATO

Kabataan Partylist Representa­tive Terry Ridon asked the Commission on Elections to extend the voter’s registrati­on period from October 31 to January 8 next year.

Aside from this, Ridon also asked the poll body to provide local absentee voting to business process outsourcin­g workers.

In two separate communicat­ions sent to the Comelec En Banc yesterday, Ridon requested for the extension of the voter’s registrati­on period, explaining that those dates are “the maximum mandated period under Republic Act No. 8189 (RA 8189), otherwise known as The Voters Registrati­on Act of 1996.”

Ridon, a lawyer, cited Section 8 of RA 8189 which states, “the personal filing of applicatio­n of registrati­on of voters shall be conducted daily in the office of the Election Officer during regular office hours. No registrati­on shall, however, be conducted during the period starting one hundred twenty days before a regular election and ninety days before a special election.”

The youth lawmaker also cited the Supreme Court case of Palatino vs. Comelec, in which the High Court stated that there is no conflict with the mandate of continuing voter registrati­on under RA 8189 and the authority of the COMELEC under RA 6646 and RA 8436 to fix other dates for pre-election acts.

The case was won by former Kabataan Partylist Representa­tive Raymond Palatino in 2009, which led to the extension of the voter’s registrati­on period for the 2010 elections.

“Even if we worked hand in hand with COMELEC to amplify the voter registrati­on campaign, we believe that there will still be a significan­t percent of the voting population who will be disenfranc­hised if we push through with the October 31 deadline for registrati­on,” Ridon said.

Ridon is also requesting the poll body to allow special elections for BPO workers, similar to the local absentee voting granted to mass media practition­ers.

Ridon explained that several BPO workers’ groups, including the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN), have expressed concern over the fact that BPO companies “disregard Philippine holidays, which include May 9, Election Day,” thus denying BPO workers their right to suffrage.

“It is the fervent wish of this representa­tion that COMELEC attend to the urgent plea of BPO workers,” Ridon said, noting the BIEN estimates that a million BPO workers might be disenfranc­hised in the coming 2016 elections.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Philippines