ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews / 5 Nov) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is conducting a five-day special voters’ registration in the municipality of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte as it granted a petition to nullify the current voters’ list as the number of voters is almost the same as the town’s population.
Lawyer Wilfred Balisado, Comelec regional director, said the special voters’ registration started Thursday (Nov. 5) and is set to end Nov. 9.
He said the registration is being conducted in six clustered centers, namely, Sibuco town gymnasium, and in the barangays of Lunday, Malayal, Mantivo, Puliran, and Sto. Niño.
Sibuco, which is one of the 25 municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte, has a total of 28 barangays.
Balisado said the conduct of the special voters’ registration is pursuant to Comelec en banc Resolution No. 15-0705 dated Sept. 29, 2015 granting the petition to nullify the voters’ list of Sibuco.
The Comelec adopted the resolution following a request of the Regional Development Council-9 (RDC-9) through a resolution to conduct new registration of voters in the town of Sibuco.
The RDC-9 resolution was authored by Dipolog City Mayor Evelyn Uy, the former RDC-9 chairperson, as she noted the number of registered voters in Sibuco is almost the same as the population of the municipality.
Uy, when she authored the resolution, has argued that based on the 2010 census, the town of Sibuco has a population of 31,982 people, which is nearly the same with the 2013 elections results that reached 30,000 voters.
Balisado said Sibuco Mayor Norbideri Edding did not oppose the conduct of the special registration of voters in his town.