Comelec sets new registration schedule

COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the registration for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls was moved to July 22 to 31 which was earlier set on July 15 to 25.

“We need to prepare. We have to print out registration forms, mobilization of field personnel,” he said.

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However, the date for the barangay registration is still on August 1 to 10.

This is the second time that the date of the registrations has been changed.Last June, the poll body set the joint registration of the barangay and SK polls from July 1 to 31.

A week later, the Comelec had reset the registration date for the SK polls will be from July 15 until July 25 while registration for the barangay polls is tentatively set on August 1 to August 10.

Eligible to register in the barangay polls are those who are Filipino citizens, at least 18 years old and a barangay resident for six months.

On the other hand, SK voters should be Filipino citizens; should be between 15 to 17 years old; and is a barangay resident for six months.

Some 43,000 posts for barangay and SK chairman as well as 293,965 for Sangguniang Barangay and SK council are up for grabs in the October 25 elections.

Special polls

The poll body has also tentatively set the date of holding special elections in several areas in the country on September 12.

“We need at least eight weeks to prepare for the special elections that is why we have tentatively set that date of special elections,” said Commissioner Larrazabal.

The special polls are set to be held in areas in Basilan (345 clustered precincts), Lanao del Sur (28), and Bulacan (442).

Larrazabal said the commission en banc is set to finalize the details of the conduct of special elections next week.

Meanwhile, the poll body will only buy 897 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines instead of the 1,084 they earlier announced.

The amount to be shelled out by the commission to buy the machines will only be P22 million from P55 million.

Larrazabal said that buying the machines would be advantageous to the government since it would be less costly for them to purchase than to lease the machines.

“There’s a big discrepancy. It’s cheaper to purchase the machines than lease it,” said the poll official while noting that a new lease contract would cost the Comelec almost P48 million.

Larrazabal explained that the special elections in some 128 clustered precincts in Dinagat Islands have not yet been included in the count of PCOS machines that would be purchased since the Supreme Court has yet to decide with finality on its independence from Surigao del Norte.

Earlier, High Court declared the creation of Dinagat Islands province as null and void due to the insufficient land area and population as stipulated by the Local Government Code. (FP/Sunnex)