First-time voters line up to register for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections at Pinaglabanan Elementary School in San Juan City on Friday, August 1, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News MANILA — Around 200,000 people have registered to vote in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE), the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday.
Comelec launched the 10-day voter registration last Friday, Aug. 1. It opened 19 sites for its special register anywhere program (SRAP) in schools, transport terminals, and select hospitals.
Chairman George Garcia said they chose the location of the registration booths because of their high foot traffic.
“Sa aking palagay, sa buong Pilipinas nakaka 200,000 na tayo more or less. Kasi yung reports sa amin, coming from the field, dumadating sa atin nang pakonti-konti. Pero siyempre later pa papadala sa amin ang kabuuang (report),” Garcia told reporters.
“Sa amin mareach man yung 1 million or not, it doesn't matter pa rin. Nung nagparehistro kami February 12 to September 30, inabot lang ng 2.2 million na botante eh mahabang [panahon] yun. Ito 10 days lang pero 1 million ang ambisyon natin,” he said.
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Garcia said they would still be thankful whether or not they reach the 1 million target voter registrants by Aug. 10.
“Kung isipin niyo, kung mas mahaba pala yan, mas dadami pa ang ating mga botante,” Garcia said.
Garcia said 75 percent or the majority of voter registrants in some train stations, for example, were first-time voters. Some went to their booths to reactivate their voter registration, he added.
“Simula pa noong Friday, blockbuster, sobrang overwhelming noong pinapakita ng mga kababayan natin na interes na magparehistro lalo na ang mga kabataan,” said Garcia.
“Noong nakaraang Sabado, diyan sa Baclaran, ang mga nakatatanda, mga lolo at lola, mga magulang, sinasamahan ang mga anak nila. Magandang indikasyon yun na naoobliga ang mga kabataan na magparehistro,” he added.
Should the President sign the measure postponing BSKE this year, the poll chief said they would resume the voter registration by October and would end it by July 2026.
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