TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Voter registration for the May 2025 local and national elections will resume on February 12 to September 30, 2024, according to a statement made by Commission on Election (COMELEC) Officer Reyman Solbita during the Monday flag raising ceremony.
Furthermore, candidates may formally submit their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) in October of this year if they are interested in running for office.
New registrants also need to present their birth certificates from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“PSA kailangan to prove their real age. Santu isu iti pagkupyaan mi didiay,” Solbita said that they need the PSA birth certificates to confirm the registrants real age and that other pertinent information in their certificates will be encoded in the COMELEC system.
The COMELEC Officer stated that in order to submit for a transfer of registration, registrants must provide the barangay chairman—rather than the councilors—with a certification attesting to their residency in that particular barangay.
“Ni kapitan ti authorized ken recognized nga agpirma iti certification kasi adu iti kagawad nga agpirpirma ta adu iti kagawad nga agbunag ken agitransfer na iti tao na idiay [barangay] tapnu umadu iti botos na,” he said.
In addition, Solbita stated that registrants must provide any legitimate official identity (ID) in addition to the barangay certification.
According to Solbita, residents can also update some incorrect information on their IDs during that time; all they have to do is visit the COMELEC with a legitimate ID or a copy of their birth certificate.
In order to alter their last name, newlywed voters merely need to present their marriage certificate, according to Solbita.
The COMELEC Officer stated that voters who were deactivated after failing to cast a ballot in two consecutive elections just needed to present a legitimate ID in order to be revived.
The COMELEC officer then said that in case some people cannot go to the COMELEC office personally, their office plans to schedule a 1 day registration in each barangay of Tabuk sometime in the near future.
Finally, Solbita announced that the “Register Anywhere Project” will soon be implemented, allowing citizens of other municipalities who are unable to physically return home and register in their own municipalities to do so at the Kalinga Astrodome. By Edward Joseph Gacuya
