Metro voters Comelec’s next target

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be going to several villages in Metro Manila this week to conduct its satellite registration program for those who want to cast their votes in the 2016 presidential polls.

Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca, who is in charge of persons with disabilities and senior citizens in the nationwide drive, said that among the areas being targeted by the poll body were urban poor communities like Payatas in Quezon City as well as posh villages such as Bel-Air, Dasmariñas and Urdaneta in Makati City.

A Comelec team will be in Payatas on    June 16 and 17, and in the Makati villages of Bel-Air on June 16, Dasmariñas on June 18 and Urdaneta on June 22.

Other areas set to be visited by the poll body are:

Manila’s 4th District: Barangay (village) 432, Zone 44, on June 22.

Manila’s 5th District: Barangay 776, Zone 85, on June 16; and Barangay 764, Zone 83, on June 22.

Quezon City’s 3rd District: Barangay Eulogio Rodriguez on  June 18.

Quezon City’s 4th District: Barangay Damayang Lagi on June 22.

Quezon City’s 5th District: Barangay Pasong Putik on June 16 and 17; and Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon on June 22.

Quezon City’s 6th District: Barangay Tandang Sora on June 16 and 17.

Barangay Tuktukan in Taguig City on June 16.

Last week, a still undisclosed number of voters registered with the Comelec in Pilar, Las Piñas City; Bangkal, Makati City; Napindan and Pinagsama, both in Taguig City; Fairview, South Triangle and Talipapa, as well as in the Kamuning Men’s Jail Dormitory and Camp Karingal Ladies’ Dormitory, all in Quezon City.

The Comelec has set the voters’ registration period from May 6 to Oct. 31, 2015, for the 2016 presidential elections. Aside from new voters, the poll body is also targeting previously registered voters who have yet to submit their biometrics data. Should they fail to do so,  they will not be allowed to vote in line with Republic Act No. 10367, otherwise known as the Act Providing for Mandatory Biometrics Voters Registration, signed by President Aquino in February 2013.

Of the 52.4 million registered voters nationwide, more than 7.3 million have no biometrics, Comelec records showed.

Biometrics data refers to the automated identification of an individual, particularly his/her photograph, fingerprint and signature as captured by the poll body’s Voter Registration Machine.

On the other hand, the Comelec sees an increase of about three million new voters  or a projected total of over 55 million voters in 2016.