Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez. INQUIRER.net file photo
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez on Tuesday said the voter registration in the National Capital Region (NCR) will be suspended by the time the region is placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Masusupend ang trabaho ng opisina sa NCR, mga opisina ng Comelec, dahil diyan, suspendido din ang voter registration during the period of the ECQ,” Jimenez said over Teleradyo.
(The office work will be suspended in NCR, the offices in Comelec, so the voter registration would also be suspended during the period of ECQ.)
Jimenez earlier said that the Comelec’s en banc has not considered the extension of the election period in areas under ECQ due to many considerations.
“Sa ngayon hindi pa tayo nag-uusap ng extension unang una, na-meet na natin ang ating target, and we are just going for those who haven’t been registered yet. Pero pangalawa nandyan din ang timetable ng election preparation natin,” Jimenez explained.
(For now, we haven’t talked about the extension, because first of all, we have already met our target, and we are just going for those who haven’t been registered yet. Second, there is also a consideration to the timetable of our election preparation.)
“Last day ng voter’s registration, kinabukasan, eh filing na ng COC (certificate of candidacy) kaagad. Eh dapat by that point naghahanda na tayo ng final list of voters. Hindi natin magagawa ‘yan pag mage-extend pa tayo,” he went on.
(After the last day of voter registration, the day after is the beginning of COC filing. We need to have a final list of voters by that point. We could not do that when we extended the registration.)
The deadline for voter registration is on September 30, while the COC filling will be from October 1 to 8, according to the poll body.
Last week, Malacañang announced that Metro Manila would be placed under ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20. But for the meantime, Metro Manila will stay under the general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until Thursday, Aug. 5.