The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Iloilo City recorded around a 500-percent increase in turnout during the last day of the registration on Sept. 30, with the youth sector having the highest registrants at 659.
In an interview on Tuesday, Election Assistant II Jonathan Sayno said they cater to an average of 200 registrants a day, but on Monday, they recorded 1,351 applications.
He said some 51 forms were not processed since the applicants were no longer around, so they failed to have their biometrics and digital signature taken.
One of the registrants was first-time voter Antonita Aliste, who turned 61 years old Tuesday.
In an interview, she said she had no time to register, and no one guided her, but she was encouraged by her youngest child to register.
“I feel relieved now that I can already vote,” she said in the vernacular.
The Election Registration Board will deliberate on some 28,000 applications, starting July until the Sept. 30 registration, when it convenes on Oct. 14.
“Since the start of the registration (Feb. 12), we have enlisted around 36,000,” Sayno said.
Iloilo City has 319,294 registered voters as of June 30.
Meanwhile, Mel Carreon, a perennial candidate, was the first to file his certificate of candidacy in the city at 9:08 a.m.
Carreon, now on his 12th straight attempt, is gunning for the lone congressional seat of the city.
Sayno said they expect at most 50 candidates for various posts in Iloilo City until the end of the COC filing on Oct. 8.
In the last local elections, they recorded 42 candidates. (PNA)
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