By Vir B. Lumicao
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| By 3 pm the Sunday queue extended all the way to the bridge linking United Centre to the HK govt offices |
The Consulate is awaiting word from the Commission on Elections on whether the overseas voter registration will be extended, as more than a thousand applicants lined up for more than seven hours today, the last Sunday of registration.
Consul General Raly Tejada said there has been no word yet from the Comelec on whether the registration of voters, both in the country and overseas, will be extended beyond the Sept 30 deadline.
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“Wala pa pong abiso ang Comelec,” Congen Tejada said. (There’s still no word from the Comelec)
Both houses of the Philippine Congress have approved a motion to extend the OVR until Oct 31, saying up to 10 million Filipinos may be deprived of the chance to vote, but the Comelec has the final say on the matter.
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Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a recent interview that the electoral body will likely extend the registration for just a week, but an en banc meeting will be held on Sept 29 to decide on whether the month-long extension sought by lawmakers should be granted.
The Comelec en banc has previously rejected a petition for a month’s extension filed by several groups, including those based abroad.
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| Inside the United Centre building the lobby was again packed with OVR applicants |
In the meantime, ConGen Tejada appealed to the employers of those who couldn’t make the cut today to allow their workers to go out and register in the remaining four days of the OVR.
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He also reminded the workers who continued to arrive and join the OVR queue at 3pm, just an hour before the PCG’s offices were to close, that they have until Thursday to register.
Nevertheless, he said all hands were on deck to handle the deluge of registrants who had lined up at the Consulate hours before the service counters opened at 9am.
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To make the process orderly, 700 queuing number cards were handed to those in the queue.
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| The Consulate was still teeming with people after it officially closed for the day |
But by 2:30pm, a female worker at the head of the long line who said she had lined up as early as 7am was still holding the 350th card. She said she those ahead of her had told her they were there before 5am.
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“We will do our best to accommodate, but, as you know, if there are more clients than we can handle, sadly, we will have to take measures (as we have already been doing) to ensure that registration is done in a convenient, safe, and efficient manner,” ConGen Tejada said.
“May capacity constraints po tayo, which is a reality,” he replied when asked whether the PCG would let in all those who were on the queue.
The country’s head of post said those who didn’t make the cut today still have the chance to register until Sept 30.
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| Tunghayan ang isa na namang Kwentong Dream Love |
“Nakikiusap po kami sa mga employers na hayaang makapagrehistro ang kanilang mga empleyado during weekdays dahil ito ay isang opisyal na transaction at civic duty ng lahat ng botanteng Pilipino,” Congen Tejada said.
(We are appealing to the employers to allow their employees to register during weekdays because this is an official transaction and civic duty of all Filipino voters.)
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| Hundreds also lined up to register yesterday, the last Saturday of registration |
The consul general said it was unfortunate that because of the pandemic, Filipino domestic workers are no longer allowed by their employers to go out to do official transactions on weekdays, when this was not the case in the past.
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