PWDs troop to mall to register

SATELLITE REGISTRANTS From serious shopping to getting serious with their voting rights, these mall-goers fill up Commission on Elections (Comelec) forms at a Taguig mall yesterday. The Comelec set up satellite registration booths in several malls yesterday to reach out to more voters as part of its preparation for the May 2016 national election. EDWIN BACASMAS

He wasn’t there to shop, Filipino Lara, 74, said as he joined the other elderly and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) who trooped to a mall in Taguig City on Friday.

“I want to make sure that I can participate in the 2016 elections,” the frail septuagenarian said. “I will vote for my bet should he run for vice president,” added Lara who joined other voters at the satellite registration booth set up by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) at SM Aura on Friday.

The booths were set up by the Comelec in partnership with selected malls to enable more voters to register for the 2016 elections. Friday’s satellite registration in Taguig gave priority to senior citizens and PWDs in celebration of National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week and was set up in partnership with the National Council on Disability Affairs, Asia Foundation, SM Supermalls and SM Cares.

Assisted by his daughter, Lara said he hopes that apart from registration and validation, the Comelec would eventually push through with its plan to allow mall-based voting, as malls are “more accesible and convenient” for PWDs and the elderly like him.

Roger Robilla, who walked in supported by a cane, shared Lara’s views. He said he decided to have his registration reactivated upon learning that he no longer had to line up at the Comelec office for the procedure.

“It’s more convenient for me,” said Robilla, who is in his 60s, adding that he had not voted in recent elections because of “uncomfortable” conditions in polling precincts.

“This mall is closer to our house, it’s spacious and air-conditioned. I feel more comfortable here,” he said.

Voter registration for PWDs and the elderly was also held in other malls Friday, with voters taking advantage of the satellite booths to have their biometrics data taken.

The biometrics data refer to the automated identification of voters and include their photograph, finger print and signature, as captured by the Comelec’s Voter Registration Machine.

The Comelec has declared that voters who have no biometrics recorded prior to the May 2016 elections will not be allowed to vote and their record purged from the voters’ list.