Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has welcomed the decision of the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend the voter registration period for
the May 2022 elections until October 31 this year.
Velasco said he was glad the Comelec has finally heeded the
clamor of Congress and the public to give voters, who face the prospect of
being disenfranchised because of the COVID-19 pandemic, more time to register
and vote in the coming polls.
“We thank the Comelec for seeing the wisdom of extending the
voter registration to allow more Filipinos to exercise their right of suffrage,
which is one of the most important rights and responsibilities we have as
citizens of the Philippines,” Velasco said.
The Comelec decision came two days after the House of
Representatives and the Senate approved on third and final reading a bill
seeking to compel the poll body to extend by one month the voter registration
period, which was supposed to end on September 30.
Principally authored by Speaker Velasco, House Bill 10261
sets the deadline for voter registration to “30 days after the effectivity” of
the proposed measure.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the main sponsor
of the counterpart measure in the Upper Chamber, reportedly said the Senate
will adopt the House version of the bill.
This will allow the legislature to do away with the
bicameral conference committee meeting as the final version will be sent
straight to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for his signature.
Velasco maintained that extending the voter registration
would prevent “massive voter disenfranchisement” given the “extraordinary
circumstances” brought about by the pandemic.
“Again, we hope the Comelec will use the extension to ramp
up voter registration and ensure that more people can vote next year because we
cannot afford to disenfranchise Filipino voters,” Velasco said.
The Speaker noted that the six-month suspension of voter
registration during the height of the health crisis in 2020 prevented a lot of
Filipinos from taking the crucial first step in participating in the May 2022
polls.
He noted that registrations were suspended further in 2021
as the nation was placed under different community quarantine classifications.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that 73
million voters are qualified to participate in the May 2022 polls.
