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Sunday, December 31, 2006
Registrants swamp Comelec despite rain, long lines
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Amid the political turmoil at the capital and the perceived public cynicism, the youth remain hopeful that their votes will count.
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Jenny Lazarte, 18, will vote for the first time in May. After the elections, she hopes the bad roads and poor drainage system in their neighborhood will be repaired.
Lazarte is one of the thousands of first-time registrants who braved the rain and the crowd at the Cebu City Commission on Elections (Comelec) offices Saturday.
Accompanied by her grandparents, she lined up at 5 a.m.
By 3 p.m., she was still waiting for her turn.
"Excited gyud ko makabotar kay ganahan makaapil sa pagpili kung kinsa nga mayor ang makatabang sa mga tawo, ug kinsay ang makapaayo sa among mga dalan ug mga kanal (I want to have a say in choosing the leaders who can fix our roads and drainage system)," Lazarte said.
She also hopes that the voter's identification card that she will soon have will help her complete the requirements for employment.
But Slay Budiongan, 18, and his friends did not mind waking up early in the morning and getting wet in the rain.
They arrived at the Comelec office at 3 a.m. but he was not able to register until 3 p.m. Saturday.
"I think the vote of the youth will make a difference. Whatever other people say, I still believe in the electoral process and I think that as citizens, it is our obligation to our country to vote," said Budiongan, a university student.
With last-minute registrants coming by the thousands, the Comelec granted leeway by allowing them to finish the process up to January 7 next year.
But Cebu City North District Election Officer Marchel Sarno clarified it is not an extension of the December 31 deadline for voters' registration.
What the Comelec central office allowed, he said, is for those who have filled out registration forms before 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to come back next year if they can no longer be accommodated.
Comelec Manila Officer-in-charge Resurreccion Z. Borra signed the memorandum dated December 29, allowing election officers to implement the change.
Last Thursday, a total of 560 registrants were registered and 791 were accommodated last Friday. Still, many were turned down and told to come back the next day.
Sarno said he did not expect to have so many registrants yesterday because of a heavy downpour.
Though wet in the rain, not one left the long queue even after he advised them to go home and just return Sunday.
"I'm just thankful that the registrants seem to have come at their own will, dili mga hinakot bitaw (and not because they were told to). And they listen when we gave instructions so there's not much trouble going on outside," he told Sun.Star Cebu.
There was a commotion Saturday morning caused by some who tried to get in line ahead of those who came early, but Sarno said he managed to settle it.
After hearing over the radio about the situation, Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez proceeded to the local poll office along Osmeña Blvd., and asked City Department of Public Services (DPS) Chief Dionisio Gualiza to set up four more tents outside the WDC Building.
He also authorized the release of P20,000 from the mayor's discretionary funds to reproduce more registration forms, which already ran out.
A portion of the amount will also be used to buy meals for some 100 Comelec personnel who worked overtime Saturday and will do so again today, the last day of registration.
In the memorandum, Borra said that Comelec personnel all over the country can no longer accommodate all applicants because of the large number of registrants, prompting them to make adjustments.
Registration in all Comelec offices will still end at 5 p.m. Sunday.
But Sarno said they might set a cut-off time of either 10 a.m. or 12 noon. Only those who received the forms before the cut-off time can register.
But those within a 30-meter radius of the Comelec office before 5 p.m. will get priority numbers, and their names will be listed in a logbook.
Those in the list can come back on Jan. 2 to 7 to complete their application, Sarno said. (Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (December 31, 2006 issue)
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