As registrants started flocking to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cagayan de Oro City on Friday morning, July 15, marking the beginning of the two-week registration, Xavier University has encouraged its students to participate in the forthcoming barangay and Sangguninang Kabataan (SK) elections either as a voter or as a candidate.
Nestor Banuag, advocacy coordinator of XU's social development cluster, said that student organizations are set to conduct an intensive voters’ education campaign through fora and training sessions for Xavier Ateneans who are interested to run as SK officials.
"We need to inform the XU community of the ongoing voters' registration conducted by our city Comelec office. This is part of our efforts as the technical working group of the 'XU4SK Campaign' in the university,” Banuag said, adding that 500 priority numbers per day will be distributed at the satellite registration hub at the Robinson's Mall.
The goal of the XU4SK Campaign is to encourage Xavier Ateneans to take part in the local governance and leadership of their respective barangays.
A forum on the SK Reform Act will draw together emerging young leaders on July 23, Saturday, at the XU Peace Park.
The barangay and SK polls are slated on October 31 this year.
Two-week registration
The city poll body expects about 5 percent increase in the number of voters in CDO.
According to local Comelec officer lawyer Gina Luna Zayas-Sabio, CDO has an existing 105,000 registered voters aged 18-30 years old who cast their votes during the May 9 national and local elections.
City Comelec estimates an additional 15,000 new registrants aged 15 to 17 years old, targeting 1,000 registrants per day. The 15-to-17-year-old registrants will exclusively vote in the SK poll.
Voters aged 18-30 years old will have to vote twice, in the regular barangay elections and the SK, as mandated by the SK Reform Act of 2015.
During the registration, the 15-to-17-year-old SK registrants must bring the following: (1) original and a photocopy of birth certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority, (2) an identification card (school or employment ID), and (3) proof of residency (must be residents of their respective barangays for at least six months prior to election day).
Regular voters, 18 years old and above, must bring any government-issued ID, employment ID or proof of billing, and should also be residents of a barangay for at least six months prior to October 31.
The poll body will only cater voters' registration, reactivation and correction of voting records.
The registration will last until July 30, Saturday. Comelec offices of cities and municipalities nationwide are open from 8AM to 5PM, including holidays and weekends. ∎
