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Philippine Congress to Consider Special Registration for New Voters
Philippine House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said Saturday morning that the Congress could hold a special session to tackle a proposal for a special registration of new voters for the coming May elections.
In an interview with a radio station, Belmonte said it is possible to convene representatives near the end of the campaign period so that those campaigning for the May 14 congressional and local elections could join the session.
Chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Alfredo Benipayo earlier rejected the proposal for a special list-up of some 4 million 18-year-olds who failed to register by the December 27, 2000 deadline.
But he said the only way to hold a special registration for the would-be first-time voters is to ask the Congress to reconvene and amend the law, which provides that the registration of voters should be conducted 120 days before the election day. There are less than 70 days before the May 14 elections.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Thursday that she is prepared to call the Congress to a special session to amend the election law if the Supreme Court rejects a petition of the youth sector group Akbayan to hold a special voters' registration to accommodate the youth voters, who make up about 10 percent of the country's voting population.
In the May 14 elections, there are more than 17,500 elective posts up for grabs, including 13 seats in the 24-member Senate and all 250 seats in the House of Representatives.
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