Comelec says no to extended voter registration

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday urged Filipino citizens who wish to register as voters in the 2010 elections to do it now before the deadline ends on Oct. 31. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo made the reminder on Tuesday as he rejected requests to extend the registration period. “Sagad na sagad na ‘yan, since December naman open na tayo para magregister (That is already the farthest we can go. After all, registration started since December)," Melo told reporters, adding that the procrastinators still have four days to sign up. Among the latest to seek an extension was Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who asked that the deadline be moved to December 31. “I just came from Cagayan De Oro and I was in the office of the city registrar and hundreds are outside the office lining up, and I don’t think that by October 31 they will all be accommodated because we have many new voters," Rodriguez told reporters. But Melo said there's no more time to spare. Moreover, he said there are not enough data capturing machines (DCMs) in the provinces. Earlier, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they fielded 62 additional new DCMs. He said these machines will definitely boost the number of registered voters listed with the poll body. But Melo explained that the DCMs can only accommodate a maximum of 400 registrants in a span of eight hours. “Usually (it’s just) 350, with overtime (we might be able to register) 400 to 500," he said. He said that the Comelec is also dealing with “budgetary constraints" regarding the payment of the overtime work of their personnel. Blame it on “national behavior" Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said that the Filipino “national behavior" of waiting for the last minute to do something should be blamed for the sudden surge of voters coming to registration centers. “We have no one to blame but ourselves, bakit hihintayin ang (why would you wait for the) last hour," he said. Melo said that registration has been going on since December but that it is only now that applicants are flocking to the Comelec offices. “Halos isang taon everyday ‘yan, tapos nitong last few days tsaka nagdadagsaan (Registration has been going on everyday for almost a year now, yet it's only now that they are rushing)," he said. Rodriguez had said if his request is denied by the Comelec, he would file a resolution at the House of Representatives seeking an extension. Melo, however, said that the decision is still up to the commission. “That’s only persuasive, the call is still the Comelec’s na hindi na talaga natin pwede i-extend (that we really cannot extend it)," he said. Since October 22, registration hours in Comelec field offices have been extended from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Registration on October 31, the last day for registration, will be open until 12 midnight. The Comelec had also earlier allotted last Friday, October 16, as a special registration day for persons with disabilities in six cities, specifically Cagayan De Oro, Davao, Cabanatuan, Zamboanga, Iloilo, and San Fernando in Pampanga. Figures from the poll body indicate that as of July 2009, there are a total of 45,638,243 eligible voters for the 2010 elections. Registration for overseas Filipinos, on the other hand, were held from Feb. 1 to August 31, this year. - GMANews.TV