CEBU CITY: Workers and students who want to register for next year’s midterm elections but cannot go home to register may soon get their registration through the Register Anywhere Program (RAP) in malls and schools, the Commission on Election (Comelec)-Central Visayas said Monday.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, regional director of Comelec-7, said they are now preparing to launch RAP while different election offices in the region are busy facilitating regular registrants during Monday’s start of the National Voter’s Day’ or the ‘Pambansang Araw ng mga Botanteng Pinoy.’

‘We will be coordinating with SM, Robinsons, Filinvest, and other malls so that during the weekends, people can register. Second, the municipalities without malls will have satellite registration in mountain and island barangays. Once a month for the highly urbanized cities, capital towns and cities will have Register Anywhere Program sites,’ Castillano told reporters.

RAP in malls is targeting new registrants or those whose age will be 18
on the day of the midterm elections in May 2025, those who want to transfer registration from one locality to another, and those who seek corrections of entries.

‘This is in line with the vision of the Comelec to enhance the voting experience by bringing Comelec closer to the people,’ he added.

Comelec-Mandaue election officer Anna Fleur Gujilde said pilot registration through RAP will be held at the University of San Carlos Talamban Campus on Feb. 27 and Cebu Doctor’s University on Feb. 28.

Castillano, at the same time, said they observed fewer people who showed up during the opening of registration Monday, even as he encouraged registrants not to wait until the last remaining days of registration to avoid the long queues.

Source: Philippines News Agency