The Commission on Elections in Iloilo City catered to 1,523 applicants during the last day of the voter registration on Monday.
In an interview on Tuesday, Election Assistant II Jonathan Sayno said the crowd was manageable, and the preparation was organized because they already anticipated the surge in applicants on the last day based on previous registrations.
“Our registration lasted for seven months since we started in October last year. But they said it is only now they found the time,” he said.
Nearly 60 percent of the new registrants belong to the youth sector.
Sayno said they visited barangays, schools, and malls to make it more accessible and ensure their comfort during the duration of the registration.
“We established 73 satellite venues, including malls, public high schools, and barangay gyms. We spent 106 days in our satellite office,” he added.
On Monday, Comelec opened at 8 a.m. at Robinsons Place Iloilo and completed the processing of applications at 7:35 p.m.
Sayno said the applications of the 1,523 and those who applied from April 1 will be subjected to deliberation by the Election Registration Board that will convene on June 1.
He said they have registered more or less 27,000 applications since October 2025 until May 18 this year. However, they are left with 10,357 applications for deliberation.
“As of March 31, we have 306,367 registered voters based on their sanitized list. We have deactivated more or less 20,000,” he said.
After the deliberation, they will release the final list of voters in the barangay and establish the number of precincts that will function.
The filing of certificates of candidacy for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections will be on Sept. 28 to Oct 6, with the elections happening on Nov. 2. (PNA)