Speaker Lord Allan Velasco hailed the passage of House Bill 10261 as “a major step to prevent voter disenfranchisement” after the Senate and House of Representatives separately approved a proposed measure, seeking to extend the voter registration period by one month. 

House Members approved House Bill 10261 on its third and final reading, fixing the last day of voter registration to “30 days after the effectivity” with 193 affirmative votes, zero negative and zero abstention. 

“We hope the COMELEC will use the one-month extension to ramp up voter registration and ensure that more people can vote next year because we cannot afford to disenfranchise voters,” Velasco said.

Velasco strongly believes that the extension of voter registration would prevent “massive voter disenfranchisement” given the “extraordinary circumstances” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. He then called out the COMELEC  to make sure that all eligible voters are able to register and exercise their right to suffrage. 

Meanwhile, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that 73 million voters are qualified to participate in the May 2022 polls. However, the COMELEC  has reported only 61 million registered voters as of August 23, meaning there are still around 12 million eligible Filipinos who have yet to register. 

The voter registration for the May 2022 local and national elections was originally set to close on September 30, 2021. Once the bill is enacted into law, the Comelec will be compelled to extend the voter registration period. While the filing of the Certificate for Candidacy (COC) for the upcoming election is bound to run from October 1-8.  

Photo Credit: Facebook/LordAllanVelasco