The Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Cebu on Wednesday drummed up a social media campaign to encourage registrants to book their appointments online.

Lawyer Lionel Castillano, Comelec provincial supervisor, said majority of the 968 applicants during the first day of registration on Tuesday were walk-in registrants.

He said the Comelec will prioritize those who have booked their schedule online to control the number of people inside their offices. However, they will still entertain walk-in registrants as second priority.

Applicants for new registration or transfer of registration can download the application form via the Comelec website but they can also click the link posted on the Facebook pages of different Office of the Election Officers (OEO) in Cebu.

Castillano said downloaded forms must be filled up first before going to the Comelec office for interview and biometrics taking which would usually take around 15 minutes.

He said all Comelec offices in the province are having a shortened transaction time from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Tuesdays to Saturdays.

“Our administrative work and disinfection of the offices will be done every 3 to 5 p.m. We don’t have office on Sunday and Monday,” Castillano told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

He said the Commission has released a resolution that directed them to implement minimum health protocols during registration.

“We will not allow people inside the Comelec offices if they don’t wear face mask and face shield. Every Comelec office has disinfection mat and requires thermal scanning,” he said.

Under Resolution No. 10674 on Aug. 12, the Comelec scheduled the resumption of voters’ registration nationwide on Sept. 1, except in localities that are still under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or modified ECQ.

To safeguard workers from coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection, Castillano said transactions are done through the windows, except in Cebu City where registrants need to get inside the office for biometrics but barriers are installed for protection.

Because of shortened transaction time, the Comelec reduced the capacity of 50 persons per day in municipal OEOs and 100 persons in city OEOs.

“They should not be worried kay (because) our registration will last until September 2021, so we still have one year to get registered,” Castillano said. (PNA)