Home 
TWO CEBUANO lawmakers yesterday opposed calls to extend the registration period for new voters, which closed Oct. 31.
Representatives Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) and Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said that by now, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should focus on familiarizing the public with poll automation,a new feature in the May 2010 elections.
“Comelec already has it hands full. We should start with automation now,” said Garcia during the 888 Media Forum at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.
Gullas said extending the registration would encourage the bad habit of last-minute registration.
“The sooner we stop the habit of waiting for the last minute, the better,” he said.
Garcia said long lines at Comelec offices is the price to pay for late registrants.
He said people, especially the youth, should not be made to feel like they are entitled to register to vote and thus have the government go out of its way to accommodate them.
“If we extend the registration, we will impress upon the young ones that there is a culture of entitlement,” he said.
Garcia said discipline should go side by side with the the exercise of one’s right of suffrage.
But Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama said late registrants should not be blamed for being unable to register either.
Comelec, he said, should have also prepared ahead of time to accommodate more people as the deadline approached.
“You cannot blame the people in its entirety. Comelec did not anticipate. When you are in public service, you must be anticipatory, empathize,” Rama said.
He cited how Comelec in Cebu City had registrants lining up in the streets.
“Why there? Why not in places like sports complexes? Why in the streets where it’s so hot?” Rama asked.
Meanwhile, the Comelec in Cebu Province said figures of total registration would be available in two weeks.
“The Election Registration Board must determine if a registration really does come from a particular place,” said Lionel Marco Castillano, Cebu provincial election supervisor.
He said registration data in the towns and cities must still pass through each local government unit’s Election Registration Board.
