The Bacolod Election Registration Board will hear at the City Comelec Office today the petition against 99 applicants for transfer of voter’s registrations, out of the 20,527 who registered from July 1 to Sept. 30 this year.
Bacolod Election Officer, Atty. Kathrina Trinio-Caña, said she received the petition against the 99 applicants Friday, for being non-residents of the barangays they have stipulated in their registration forms.
The applicants being protested include 29 from Barangay Mandalagan, Tangub – 19, Bata – 11, Singcang – 9, Mansilingan – 7, Alijis – 6, Brgy. 32 – 5, Sum-ag – 4, Brgy. 30 – 3, Brgy. 28 – 3, and Pahanocoy – 1.
Caña said the petitioners alleged that these applicants are not residents of those places or have not been seen in these areas.
Those being petitioned will be summoned by members of the ERB, and will be asked to submit supporting documents or bring a guarantor to prove their residences.
Caña said the ERB hearing is held to vet the qualifications of registrants before they can be officially included in the final list of voters of local government units concerned.
The first ERB hearing in Bacolod in line with the May 9, 2022 Presidential and Local Elections was held in July, with mayoralty candidate Alfredo “Albee” Benitez among the more than a hundred protested applicants.
Caña said only five applicants were disqualified by the ERB in that hearing, after they were discovered to be short of the required number of months to be considered residents of the place where they intend to cast their votes.
Meanwhile, the Comelec Bacolod received 1,958 applicants in the first five days of the voter registration extension.
These included the 102 persons deprived of liberty inside the Metro Bacolod District Jail in Barangay Taculing, who were allowed to register during a special satellite registration held for them Oct. 15.
On Sept. 4, the Comelec Bacolod also registered 185 PDLs from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Male and Female dormitories in Barangay Handumanan.
The nationwide voter registration extension started Oct. 11 until Oct. 30.
Caña said any petition against applicants in the extended registration will be heard by ERB in November. – MML
