MikeLigalig.com

by: PNA

Hundreds of would-be voters trooped to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Metro Cebu on Wednesday afternoon, but many did not make it to the cut-off time.

Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said a large number of applicants were reported in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

He lamented that many were not registered since the Comelec could no longer accommodate them.

Castillano said this also happened in the 2010 elections.

The registration at that time was resumed in December 2009 and lasted for 10 days, but only for new voters.

Castillano said they will have the total number of registered voters after the election registration board hearing on December 19, when they will decide which applications should be approved or disapproved.

In Mandaue City, the Comelec stopped giving registration forms around 10 a.m. because the office would only accommodate up to 700 registrants.

In Lapu-Lapu City, more than 1,000 would-be voters turned up at the Comelec office on the last day, said lawyer Ann Janette Chua-Hu Lamban, Lapu-Lapu City election officer.

They stopped accepting registrants at 3 p.m.

Hundreds of applicants also failed to enlist in Cebu City, as they did not make it to the 3 p.m. cut-off time. Most of those who were not accommodated by Comelec personnel arrived late Wednesday morning.

Cebu City north district election officer Marchel Sarno said that as early as 7 a.m., there were already some 600 registrants waiting outside their office.

“Those who came late were not accommodated,” he said.

Sarno said those who were not accommodated cannot blame their office since they had 16 months to register to vote in the 2013 elections.

Cebu City congressional candidate Annabelle Rama’s family was lucky. Nearly all of them are now registered voters of the city.

Following their father Eddie Gutierrez and sister Ruffa, Annabelle’s celebrity son Richard and Richie Paul submitted their registration forms to the Comelec north district office at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

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