Supreme Court asked to extend voters' registration

MANILA, Philippines - Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino of Kabataan asked the Supreme Court yesterday to order the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to extend today’s deadline for registration of voters for next year’s automated polls.

Palatino led several youth groups in filing the petition seeking to nullify Resolution No. 8585 of the Comelec, which set the deadline for filing of application of voter’s registration on Oct. 31.

Comelec officials said registration would continue today up to 12 midnight to accommodate more registrants.

The petition questioned the legality of the Comelec resolution, which shortened the period for registration of voters as mandated in the law.

Petitioners argued that the deadline set by Comelec was more than two months earlier than prescribed under Republic Act 8189 (Voter’s Registration Act of 1996) and is therefore a violation of the law.

“Section 8 (System of Continuing Registration of Voters) of RA 8189 provides that no registration shall be conducted during the period starting 120 days before a regular election and 90 days before a special election,” Palatino said in their petition.

The group also argued that the Comelec deadline is unconstitutional because “it usurped legislative power of Congress.”

The party-list group believes that calls to extend voter’s registration are more reasonable, practical and justifiable in light of the recent onslaught of tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng,” as well as the limited number of biometric machines and unavailability of Comelec satellite registration sites.

“After the Comelec stubbornly ignored our appeals and valid complaints, we are left with no choice but to take them to task,” Palatino said in a statement.

He had earlier filed House Resolution 1162 directing the Comelec to return the deadline for voter’s registration to its original deadline of December 2009; HR 1443 calling to extend the registration of voters in areas affected by Ondoy and Pepeng, and another resolution calling for a one-day leave with pay for employees to register for the polls.

Comelec: Voters given enough time to register

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said prospective voters have been given enough time to register.

He said the registration of voters started on Dec. 2, 2008 but because of the Filipino habit to do things at the last minute or near deadline, Comelec offices are now swamped with late registrants.

“The registration period that we set has never been challenged. If their (Kabataan) petition is given due course (by the Supreme Court), we’ll deal with it squarely,” Jimenez added.

Comelec commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that he would bring up during their en banc meeting next Tuesday the mounting calls for the extension of registration.

“As of today, the decision is that there will be no extension. But since there are requests for it, I think I’ll bring it up when we hold an en banc next week,” Sarmiento added. 

The Comelec said that there were some 2.8 million new registrants for the 2010 local and national polls as of the month of August.

“It’s just an estimate. The registration ends on the midnight of Oct. 31 and only then can we come up with (accurate) figures,” said Jimenez.

The Comelec has been eyeing some three million new registrants or first-time voters to register for next year’s elections.

Meanwhile, the Comelec has accredited the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) to be its citizen’s arm in the 2010 polls.

This is the seventh time that PPCRV would act as poll watchdog since 1992.

In a 10-page resolution, the Comelec had granted the application of PPCRV, citing its trust on the credibility of the Catholic-backed group.

“The petitioner’s participation during the past electoral exercises and its commitment towards honest, clean, credible and peaceful elections are commendable,” the resolution said.

PPCRV was involved in the elections held in 1992, 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007.

The group had deployed poll watchers to help monitor the situation in poll precincts nationwide during elections. 

The accreditation entitles the PPCRV to get a soft copy of the Computerized Voter’s List (CVLs) as well as the soft and hard copies of the 4th copy of election returns that contain the summary of votes in a precinct. - With Sheila Crisostomo