SIMULTANEOUS REGISTRATION. Registration officers from different municipalities of the province of Iloilo cater to registrants during the one-day registration fair simultaneous with voter education at the West Visayas State University (WVSU) on Wednesday (Feb. 21, 2024). Commission on Elections (Comelec) Regional Director lawyer Dennis Ausan said they will have the same event in other areas in the region in the coming months to drumbeat the start of the resumption of the continuing registration. (PNA photo by PGLena)
ILOILO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Western Visayas held a simultaneous voter education and registration fair with the youth sector as among its audience at the West Visayas State University (WVSU) on Wednesday.
“We are coming out with these activities to disseminate the information that since Feb. 12 up to Sept. 30, we have a resumption of continuing registration where all our offices are open to accept all kinds of applications for registration,” said Comelec Regional Director lawyer Dennis Ausan in an interview.
He said one significant feature of the event was that they gathered election offices of various municipalities and cities in one venue for simultaneous registration.
“Our registration officers coming from the different municipalities of the province of Iloilo are here bringing with them the voter's registration system so they can register their residents who have no opportunity to go home because of work or school,” Ausan added.
The registration accepts new applicants, applications for transfer, re-activation, and a change in status or correction of entries.
The regional top official said they have close coordination with the youth sector, including the student councils of other schools and federation chairs of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) for the event.
Joseph V. Catubay, 19 years old and a first-year education student at the university, took advantage of the activity to register after failing to enlist for last year's polls.
He said he made sure he could vote next time, claiming that the election is a venue where they can express their choice of people who deserve to be their leader.
“Let us register and vote wisely,” he said.
Nerfina R. Macatuay, an employee of WVSU, applied for a change in status from single to married.
“It was fast, and they are accommodating,” she said.
On Feb. 23, Comelec will conduct the same activity in SM Bacolod and Kalibo in Aklan next month. (PNA)
