A Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said Wednesday that face-to-face campaign activities may still be allowed provided that the people will strictly adhere to the minimum public health standards amid the current threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Depende po sa IATF (Interagency Task Force) na mga rules iyan. Kunwari Metro Manila is under GCQ (general community quarantine)…so limited dapat ang social distancing nila, two meters,” Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said.
“Pwede naman po silang mangampanya pero two meters minimum tapos may mask sila. Sila, ‘yung mga nangangampanya may mask, tsaka ‘yung mga taong nakikinig sa kanila may mask din. Saka may limit na po iyan, hindi naman pwedeng isang libo kayo,” she added.
VOTERS REGISTRATION EXTENED
Meanwhile, the Comelec said that it has extended the registration hours for new voters in order to accommodate more applications.
“Para maka-extend po kami, hindi na po 3 p.m. ang deadline ng registration, makaka-extend na po kami ng 5 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. Deadline is no longer 3 p.m. We can now extend it to 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.,” said Guanzon.
Guanzon said that they are still behind their target of registering four million new voters or those who will turn 18-years-old before the conduct of the May 2022 elections.
“Before May 9, 2022, ayon sa National Statistics Authority, four million dapat ang mag 18-years-old. Ang nakarehistro lamang ay 1,112,000. So, may almost three million pa tayong hahanapin,” said Guanzon.
The Comelec commissioner said that they will discuss today the possible implementation of barangay satellite registration to encourage more registrants. (Analou de Vera)
