Pinoys brave long lines, hotheads in Comelec to beat registration deadline

Some Filipinos could not help but get frustrated over long lines and cut-offs at voter registration sites with one week left before the deadline set by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on September 30.

With limited slots at voter registration sites amid the pandemic, Emelia Logarta said she became impatient after Comelec personnel did not let her register because of the cutoff of 400 registrants.

She said she booked an appointment online but the website did not give them a specific date.

"Ang aga aga din naman namin pumunta, ba't di kami pinagbigyan? (We went here early, why can't they just give us a chance to register?)," Logarta said over Tina Panganiban Perez's "24 Oras" report.

Nevertheless, Logarta was allowed to register at the priority lane because she is a nurse assistant, a frontline worker during the pandemic.

Another voter registrant Bryan Lopez had an altercation with a Comelec personnel.

He was questioned over his late registration despite being given more than a year to register. The poll body resumed voter registration last January 4, 2021.

"Bakit ngayon pupunta kung kailan malapit na ang deadline? (Why would you register only now when the deadline is near?)," the Comelec personnel asked.

Lopez responded: "May sarili ding ginagawa sir. (I have some personal things to attend to.)"

The Comelec had said it may consider extending voter registration for one week. 

But both chambers of Congress have been seeking to extend the voter registration until October 31. -- Consuelo Marquez/BAP, GMA News