Four groups are set to launch a new coalition to boost voter registration and turnout for the 2022 elections.
The coalition will be composed of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Commission on Human Rights and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, former Comelec chief Christian Monsod said.
Monsod urged Filipinos to “make democracy work” by registering for and voting in the 2022 presidential election.
In a PressOnePH podcast episode, Monsod said voting enables the government “to hear all the voices of democracy,” emphasizing the role of the 1986 snap election in the People Power Revolution, which drove out the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
“That historic moment when the rich and the poor lock their arms, and promise one another, ‘we will change this,’ that’s our situation today,” Monsod said.
Monsod, one of the pioneers of Namfrel, recalled how the group recruited some 500,000 volunteers to guard the ballots during the 1986 election.
The group has invited the two main parties Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan and the Liberal Party to enjoin people to register and vote despite differences in “certain issues and choices of leaders.”
“This is just a coalition to tell people: ‘Let’s hear you. You must register to vote. It’s a civic duty,’” Monsod said.
Monsod also stressed the role of the government and Comelec in boosting the registration campaign for the 2022 elections despite the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Comelec chief suggested that election officials should be vaccinated, and that the election body put up satellite booths for voter registration.
Voter registration will end on Sept. 30. Comelec has extended the daily registration hours, and is open to extending the deadline beyond Sept. 30. Ian Gabriel Trinidad