THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) aims to achieve a five percent increase in the number of registered voters nationwide for the 2025 midterm elections.
Comelec 7 Director Lionel Castillano said one of the strategies to accomplish this goal is the implementation of the Register Anywhere Program (RAP) in highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in the country, including those in Cebu and capital towns and cities in other islands of the region.
“We will only conduct the RAP once a month because it is just an additional service of the Comelec. We will hold the RAP during our satellite registration, where we will have those booths,” Castillano explained in Cebuano on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024.
He said the main purpose of the RAP is to accommodate students and workers based in HUCs and capital towns and cities who may still want to vote in their home provinces.
“Usually, these students and workers can only make time during the weekend. That’s why we’ll conduct the satellite registration on weekends at the malls,” he added.
The RAP is an innovative program wherein qualified Filipinos can register as voters anywhere nationwide without going back to their place of residence, the Comelec said in its website. This addresses the concern of Filipinos “who are currently away from their place of residence due to employment, school and other reasons but would like to register as a voter in the same without the need to physically go there,” it said.
Castillano said the pilot implementation of RAP will take place at the University of San Carlos Talamban campus in Cebu City in the morning of Feb. 28 and at the Cebu Doctors’ University (CDU) in Mandaue City later that afternoon.
Only students and school personnel will be allowed to participate.
Limited areas
Mandaue City. Election Officer Anna Fleur Gujilde said they chose CDU because 70 percent of its staff and students are not from Cebu.
Gujilde said Comelec Mandaue plans to launch the RAP for the public in their office after the pilot testing. They will also announce other locations where RAP will be available within the city, she added.
After the pilot testing, only Comelec offices in the tri-cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will implement the RAP, according to Comelec 7 spokesman and Carcar City Election Officer Omar Sharif Dilangalen Mamalinta.
This is because only those offices have been given the voter’s registration machine by Comelec Manila to carry out the program, he said.
Mamalinta said the selected offices will process RAP applications during regular office hours as well as during satellite registrations, from Monday to Saturday, including holidays.
The Comelec has introduced RAP as a convenient way for voters to register. With RAP, voters are no longer limited to registering at their local Comelec office. Instead, they can register at designated sites across the country, regardless of their current residence.
Comelec will set up registration facilities at selected establishments such as malls, universities, government offices, church organizations, and other similar venues.
Mamalinta said RAP applicants will have to bring the same requirements as regular applicants.
Meanwhile, Castillano said the RAP will be implemented in Tagbilaran City in Bohol, Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental and Siquijor town in Siquijor.
Castillano advised the public to follow Comelec Facebook pages where they will post the schedule for satellite registration and the RAP in the coming months.
Clarifications
He also clarified that their daily registration will continue at the Comelec district offices, in addition to satellite registrations and RAP implementation.
The Comelec initiated its satellite registration years ago to accommodate registrants in far-flung areas and those who are financially constrained.
Voter registration for new registrants resumed on Feb. 12 and will end on Sept. 30.
In a text message on Monday, Comelec Election Officer Marchel Sarno said that as of 2 p.m., 420 more individuals in Cebu City were now eligible to vote in the 2025 midterm elections, based on their partial assessment, after these individuals applied for registration Monday.
However, these individuals were from the north district only. The number does not include those from the south district.
Comelec Mandaue received 432 applications, as of 3 p.m.
Gujilde advised registrants to bring valid IDs like government-issued IDs such as the Social Security System or Government Service Insurance System ID, driver’s license, postal ID or even a barangay clearance provided that it contains a recent photo of the applicant.
She discouraged the use of company IDs because there have been instances when some applicants submitted fake company IDs.
“Unless it is from a known company and the registrant has no other available IDs, then we will possibly accept it. But most of the time if you are a worker, you also have government IDs,” she said.
Gujilde said they will only cater to registrations for the midterm elections. Applicants for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections in December 2025 will be entertained after the midterm elections on May 12, 2025.
As of October 2023, Central Visayas has 5,415,071 registered voters, with the majority or 3,384,198 voters coming from Cebu; 981,785 from Bohol; 968,874 from Negros Oriental; and 20,214 from Siquijor. (with a report from AML)