Thursday, December 14, 2006 Comelec asks public: Register before Dec. 31
NEW voters are asked to process their application for eligibility to vote before the Dec. 31 deadline.
Lawyer Marchel Sarno, Cebu City election officer for the north district, yesterday said they will hold office on Dec. 30 and 31, Saturday and Sunday, to accommodate last-minute registrants.
In a memorandum, Comelec Executive Director Pio Jose Joson instructed all field offices to open on the said dates even if it falls on a weekend and a holiday.
“Dec. 31 was set as the deadline and we expect more people to come in the last few days of registration, that is why we were asked to hold office,” Sarno said in an interview. Meanwhile, at least 14 election officers in Cebu Provie will be moved out of their offices in compliance with the election law
mandating the reshuffling of poll officers who already held their positions for four years.
Provincial Election Supervisor Edwin Cadungog told Sun.Star Cebu that he already sent to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office the list of election officers who will have to leave their current posts until after the May 2007 elections.
But he said the affected officers were consulted on where they want to be assigned in a gathering last Nov. 29 and 30, where election personnel discussed problems they may encounter and ways to address them.
Aside from the election officers holding permanent positions, also in the list that he submitted are officers who have yet to reach four years in their posts but have relatives who will be running for elective positions in their areas.
Cadungog also sent to the Comelec en banc a list of applicants to the position of election officer in Madridejos, Bantayan island.
The Comelec has also set on Jan. 22 the hearing on former Cebu first district congressman Jose “Dodong” Gullas’ application for transfer of voter’s registration records.
Political parties in the city have until Jan. 12 to file a protest against the application of Gullas, who wants to transfer his registration records from Talisay City to Barangay Guba in Cebu City.
The Election Registration Board, headed by Sarno, will check the requirements and forms submitted by Gullas and if the latter has complied with Comelec rules on the transfer of registration records.
It will also check if Gullas has complied with the six months residency requirement.
The former congressman is said to have established his residency in Guba three years ago.
“Our presumption is whatever is written on the forms is true and valid. And if there are individuals who want to contest it, they may do so during the hearing,” Sarno said.
In their last meeting in November, Cadungog said, election officers raised their usual problem about pressure they receive from politicians, but he said this is part of their work. (LCR/JPM)
