Despite repeated announcements through all forms of media for the last two years, many registered voters will not get to vote in next year’s presidential and local elections due to their failure to submit their biometric data to the Commission on Elections.
Hundreds rushed to the Comelec office in Dumaguete in the last two days to have their biometrics registered, which will be required for all voters in the May 2015 polls.
While the last two days of registration proceeded smoothly at Robinsons Mall, there were still complaints about the “lack of time” given to the voters to accomplish the requirement.
Atty. Gildu Agoncillo, head of the Comelec office in Dumaguete, found himself defending his office from these unfounded criticisms.
“There is nothing wrong with the way the registration of voters is being carried out by this office. Instead, the problem is because the voters were waiting until the last few days to deadline time before actually registering to vote,” he told reporters.
Well, if it’s any consolation, these complaints are not unique to the Comelec office in Dumaguete alone. The Comelec Commissioner in Manila had, for the past weeks, also defended the entire Comelec from similar criticisms.
Some habits, indeed, die hard. And the penchant for waiting for the 11th hour before doing anything is still apparently difficult to let go for many people.
Let’s hope that everyone learns from this exercise, for their own good, and for the good of our country.
