City's resolution asking for extension of voter's registration useless--Abalos
The resolution approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod asking Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos for extension of the registration of voters who failed to beat the December 31, 2006 deadline is already moot and academic.
In a radio interview, Abalos said Comelec could no longer extend the registration of voters as there is no more time. The election period already starts by January 14.
In last Wednesday's regular session of the city council, the council approved a resolution requesting the Comelec to extend the registration until January 31, 2007. The resolution was sponsored by Councilor Julienne Baronda.
In her resolution, Baronda said there is a need to extend the period of registration in order to give chance to young people who were not able to make it as scheduled by Comelec for reasons beyond their control. "We will be disenfranchising these people and impair their civil right to vote which is protected by our basic and fundamental law," the councilor pointed out.
Baronda added, there was an apparent impossibility to accommodate all the applicants especially the youth for registration as their was a limitation as to the number of registrants entertained by the Comelec each day.
It is a national concern today that there are many of the prospective voters especially the youth, who are said to be the hope of the motherland, who were not able to register in the Comelec due to some circumstances, said Baronda.
However, the City Comelec said they could not be blamed for the failure of new voters to register as the continuing registration has been going for years. There are even Sundays when the Comelec had its office if only to accommodate the new voters and yet nobody went to register.
At the city Comelec, it was noticed that the some registrants are accompanied by their barangay captain or barangay council members. There are also barangay officials who went their way and asked for registration forms from the Comelec if only to have their constituents registered.