MindanaoToday.com | COMELEC, NCSC bring registration closer to senior citizens, PWDs, IPs in Iligan City
ILIGAN CITY – To facilitate registration for senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and indigenous peoples, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)-10 and the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) conducted the Co-Location Satellite Registration and Register Anywhere Program (RAP) at Kalamalamahan Elementary School in Barangay Rogongon, Iligan City, on May 20.
The activity aims to make the electoral process more inclusive and accessible, as well as to register senior citizens to facilitate access to government benefits, enhance service delivery, monitor health, economic, and social conditions, ensure inclusivity, promote awareness of rights and programs, support policy development, enable efficient resource allocation, improve communication, strengthen advocacy, and foster community support.
“Ang among gusto sa atong chairman sa Commission on Elections nga ang tanang katawhan magpakabana gikan man sa mga batan-on hangtud sa katiguwangan, magpakabana ug mupartisipar sa election. We have to remember nga kita ang mga amo sa mga politiko. Dili na sila mahimo’g politiko, dili na sila mahimong makalingkod sa ilang katungdanan kung dili tungod sa atong boto nga atong gihatag kanila,” Regional Election Supervisor Renato Magbutay said.
(What we want from our chairman of the Commission on Elections is that all the people, from the youth to the elderly, care and participate in the election. We have to remember that we are politicians’ employers. They can no longer be politicians; they will not be able to sit in their office if it is not because of the vote that we gave them.)
Therefore, it is important as a first step to participate in the electoral process that everyone registers. Registration is crucial for electing the right leaders in future elections, he added.
With the activity conducted, Magbutay said they are targeting to increase voter registration, reduce congestion at regular registration sites, reach underserved areas, facilitate voter mobility, and promote greater electoral participation.
Meanwhile, the NCSC, under the direction of Chairperson Franklin Quijano, is going above and beyond to make sure that all senior citizens in the Philippines receive their entitlement benefits, even in the most remote areas.
“Kami nangahas nga manganha sa pinakalayo nga lugar sa Pilipinas aron lamang marehistro ang mga senior citizens. Kung marehistro mo, ang mga benepisyo ug programa, dali rang muabot sa atong mga senior citizens,” Quijano said.
(We dare to go to the farthest places in the Philippines just to register senior citizens. If you register, the benefits and programs will easily reach our senior citizens.)
The NCSC Chairperson also detailed the financial benefits awaiting registered senior citizens. Those aged 80, 85, 90, and 95 will receive P10,000 upon reaching these milestones. Furthermore, centenarians will receive P100,000.
Receiving the service from the government, Paulino Guicanan, an indigenous senior citizen from Barangay Rogongon, expressed his gratitude, saying, “Nagpasalamat ako bahin ana kay natagaan gyud og insaktong pagtagad sa gobyerno. Dili kami magastuan paingon sa syudad kay naa naman niabot sa amo nga nagahatag kanamo og pagtagad.”
(I am thankful for the government’s proper attention. We won’t have to spend much to go to the city because services have come to us.)
He added that it is crucial for senior citizens to register in the aforementioned program in order to utilize government services, particularly as many of them already have illnesses that require immediate treatment or medication.
For a PWD like Mark Anthony Jumao-as, 25, from Purok Sta. Cruz, Barangay Rogongon, the activity is crucial since it will enable the PWDs to exercise their right to suffrage without having difficulties in reaching the registration sites.
“Wala ko’y sakyanan, mao nang nagpasalamat ko sa COMELEC nga nianhi sila dinhi kay para duol ra among rehistro kay layo baya ang amoa, ang syudad layo pud, wa pud mi’y sakyanan,” he said.
(I don’t have a car, which is why I thanked the COMELEC for coming here; our registry is closed because it’s far away, the city is far away, and we don’t have a car.)
This event showed the agencies’ dedication to making voter registration more inclusive, ensuring all eligible citizens can vote, and making government benefits more accessible, improving the quality of life for seniors across the country.
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