FILE PHOTO People wait in line for the last day of voters’ registration at a mall in Manila on October 30, 2021. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines – The last day of the voter registration on Saturday for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections went smoothly as registrants exercised patience and discipline, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.
In a statement, the PNP attributed the “generally peaceful” last day of registration largely to the orderly conduct of registrants.
“We are glad that despite the long queue in Comelec offices and off-site registration areas, the applicants were patient enough in waiting for their turn,” PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Danao Jr. said in a statement on Sunday.
“We were tasked to assist in the security and respond to emergencies. Fortunately, no untoward incident was recorded,” he added.
PNP also said senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and pregnant women were prioritized during the last day.
Further, Danao said that a pre-positioned system flow has always been a practice of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as a preparation for the last day of registration.
The voter’s registration for the local polls, which will be held on December 5, 2022 was opened on July 4 and was concluded last Saturday, July 23.
Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco earlier said that as of July 21, two days before the voter registration period ends, over 2,119,878 had registered for the upcoming barangay and SK elections.
Of the new registrants, 1,326,415 are aged 15 to 17 years old; 680,497 are aged 18 to 30, and 112,966 are aged 31 years and above. –Nicole Faye Agcaoili, INQUIRER.net intern