COTABATO CITY – Eligible voters in this city and neighboring Maguindanao province formed long queues in various list-up centers on Saturday to beat the last day of voters’ registration.
Senior Supt. Rolly Octavio, city police director, said they began deploying cops to the local offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) early to ensure an orderly and smooth registration.
“They (police officers) are there to manage the orderly procedure in list-up centers,” Octavio said.
At the city Comelec office along Bonifacio St. here, at least 150 persons came as early as 7 a.m., the start of the registration.
“I came here very early because there’s no tomorrow for those who failed to register,” said 29-year-old Sahara Gusto, a registration applicant.
Gusto said she wants to vote in the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite and the 2019 local elections.
Voters in Cotabato City and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are set to vote whether to be included in the new Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), which the BOL created. The referendum is scheduled on Jan. 21 next year.
Lawyer Ray Sumalipao, ARMM election chief, said the early hours of the last day of voters’ registration has so far been orderly.
Citing reports from provincial and municipal election officers, Sumalipao said police officers have helped election officers man and oversee the final day of registration.
Lawyer Udtog Tago, Maguindanao election supervisor, noted the high turnout of new voters since July 2, the start of continuing registration, as more applicants flocked to Comelec offices and satellite registration centers in the province.
Abdul Kibudtungan, 20, resident of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, said despite the inconvenience of having long queues, one needs to be patient to be able to vote in the plebiscite and the midterm polls next year.
James Jimenez, Comelec spokesperson, said Friday the voters’ registration period will not be extended. ( Edwin Fernandez and Noel Punzalan/PNA)