HOUSE Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez on Wednesday hailed the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) decision extending the voter registration from October 11 to 30, 2021.

“We commend the ruling made by the Comelec addressing the adverse impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) by extending the voter registration. This would spare the massive disenfranchisement of potential voters,” said Romualdez, chairman of the House committee on rules and president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD).

At the same time, Romualdez urged the youth, first-time and deactivated voters to register for the 2022 polls to effectively reform the country’s political and economic system.

“Register, and vote! Make sure that every vote counts. That is the best way to introduce reforms in our country,” Romualdez, a lawyer from the University of the Philippines (UP) and president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), said in underscoring the importance of youth involvement in political exercises.

“You, my dear Filipino youth, have the time and energy to help improve the living condition of our people. You have the power to help build a better future for the next generation. Do not waste them,” Romualdez said.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said he was glad the Comelec has finally heeded the clamor of Congress and the public to give voters, who face the prospect of being disenfranchised because of the COVID-19 pandemic, more time to register and vote in the coming polls.

“We thank the Comelec for seeing the wisdom of extending the voter registration to allow more Filipinos to exercise their right of suffrage, which is one of the most important rights and responsibilities we have as citizens of the Philippines,” Velasco said.

“I am pleased that the Comelec en banc, in its collective wisdom, heeded the call of the voting public,” said Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon.

“The right to suffrage is the hallmark of a healthy democracy – in our case, our constitutionally protected right to vote is the product of the democracy we fought so hard to restore – and we should all be given the chance to exercise the freedom to elect the people we want to serve in government. We should exhaust all means possible to avoid voter disenfranchisement and give each voter a sufficient opportunity to exercise their right to vote,” Biazon said.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate also welcomed the decision of the Comelec.

“It is good that the Comelec has heeded the public clamor for an extension for voter’s registration because as can be seen by the kilometric lines to Comelec booths for almost a week now, many of our countrymen are still unregistered,” Zarate said.

“The long lines is also a testament that our countrymen want to exercise their right to vote and change the current incompetent administration. More registered voters will also be a safeguard if some unscrupulous groups may try to cheat in the elections by way of the reactivated voters in the past years,” Zarate, a Davao-based solon, said.

“As it is we are about to hold an unprecedented election next year in a time of pandemic, with the future of our country at stake and we will work hard for the Comelec to have its budget restored,” Zarate said.

“We are still puzzled why the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed the Comelec’s original P42 billion budget by 64% so it was terribly reduced to just P26 billion on a very important election year. It is as if the Comelec is being set up to fail, or, at the minimum, find it extremely hard to organize and guard the conduct of the elections,” Zarate said.

“We are now calling on first time voters and those from far flung areas to not waste this chance to register to vote our country’s future and our very survival is at stake here,” Zarate ended.

The Comelec decision came two days after the House of Representatives and the Senate approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to compel the poll body to extend by one month the voter registration period, which was supposed to end on September 30.

Principally authored by Speaker Velasco, Romualdez, and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano, House Bill (HB) 10261 sets the deadline for voter registration to “30 days after the effectivity” of the proposed measure.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, the main sponsor of the counterpart measure in the Upper Chamber, reportedly said the Senate will adopt the House version of the bill.

This will allow the legislature to do away with the bicameral conference committee meeting as the final version will be sent straight to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for his signature.