BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Bacolod Commission on Elections officer Kathrina Trinio-Caña said yesterday that 294,330 registered voters have been recorded as of April, while 10,199 applications are awaiting approval.
Caña said those pending are not all new registrants as some are only for correction of entries, adding that the Election Registration Board has scheduled a hearing on July 19 to resolve these applications.
She said the voter registration at SM City Mall that started yesterday will continue today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., although the cutoff for the submission of application was made earlier.
Caña also said that the special registration for the youth at St Joseph School La Salle Friday next week is still not certain because the Emergency Operations Center has not given its go-signal yet.
The office of Councilor Ayesha Villaflor, chairman of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Youth, Sangguniang Kabataan Affairs and Sports Development, requested the holding of the special voter’s registration.
Meanwhile, Caña vehemently denied that Comelec Bacolod is accepting applicants even if they are not residents of the city.
Social media posts alleged that a service vehicle owned by a barangay from a southern Negros Occidental municipality was seen parked in front of City Mall in Brgy. Mandalagan Saturday, where a voter’s registration took place.
Caña said that in case there were pictures of a service vehicle from other municipalities parked near the registration site taken and made rounds in social media, that does not mean that its passengers came to the area to register.
She said Comelec is only accepting those who can show proof that they are residents of Bacolod or have a guarantor, who can attest that he or she is indeed living in the city.*
