COMELEC resolution suspends voters’ registration

(June 20, 2012) The Office of the City Election Officer in Tacurong City requests qualified voters to register until June 23, 2012 because COMELEC is about to suspend the conduct of voters’ registration.

The suspension is pursuant to COMELEC Resolution 9443 entitled Suspension of the System of Continuing Registration of Voters and Validation of Registration Records promulgated on June 8, 2012.

For the City of Tacurong, the satellite registration of voters scheduled in July for barangays San Antonio, D’Ledesma, San Rafael, Tina, Kalandagan, New Carmen, Calean, New Isabela, San Emmanuel, and San Pablo scheduled is also cancelled until further notice. For the walk-in registrants however, they can go to the office of the COMELEC until June 23 and have their registrations processed.

Resolution 9443 suspends registration in non-ARMM areas until July 31, 2012. According to the Resolution, the suspension is deemed necessary to pave way for the conduct of General Registration of Voters in ARMM provinces Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-tawi in July 9-18, 2012.

COMELEC personnel and equipment in non-ARMM areas will be utilized and deployed to the mentioned provinces ‘to effect an honest and credible registration of voters and attain the mandate to establish a clean, complete, permanent, and updated list of voters in the ARMM region’.

“Our workforce in Tacurong is always ready to support any effort to make the whole system clean. Tacurongnons will have to wait but this will all be worthwhile,” said City Election Officer Reynaldo Gagno.

A City Election staff said that they would likely resume the registration of voters, including the satellite registration in barangays, in August.

Last April, COMELEC-Tacurong has already conducted satellite registration in barangays New Passi, Rajah Muda, Lancheta, Baras, Upper Katungal, EJC Montilla, New Lagao, and Buenaflor. (Jezereel Louise C. Billano)