Comelec spox to Liza Soberano: Voting still speaks the loudest

BY GABRIELA BARON

Actress Liza Soberano’s series of tweets regarding the plight of Filipino workers amid rising number of fresh coronavirus (COVID-19) cases elicited mixed reactions – good and bad.

For one, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez found Soberano’s tweets genuine as he praised the 23-year-old Fil-Am for having “a huge Filipino heart.”

He said that after a netizen asked the spokesperson if the actress is a registered voter.

In his tweet Tuesday night, Jimenez said: “Even if she weren’t, she’s obviously got a huge Filipino heart, and lots of people would be made aware of the power of their right to vote if she wanted to exert effort for that. #MagparehistroKa.”

Jimenez did not say it directly but Soberano’s concern would be felt more if she will encourage eligible Filipinos to register in time for next year’s national elections.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Soberano lamented the government’s alleged inability to provide stimulus to the poor amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

“My heart bleeds for all the people who cannot afford not to go out and work. They literally have to choose between dying of starvation or dying of COVID. Is our country really this poor to not be able to provide stimulus? Genuine question lang po,” the actress wrote.

Soberano then compared the Philippines to the United States, which is set to give its third wave of stimulus packages to its citizens and questioned the government’s support for the poor.

“Hayy I honestly don’t even know if my tweets/my voice is actually doing anything. We can only pray for compassion now,” she added.

Replying to her tweet, Jimenez maintained that while “tweets are great,” voting still “speaks the loudest.”

He went on to encourage qualified voters to register for the upcoming 2022 national elections.

“When you vote, you have a tangible impact by putting good people into office where they can do more to help those in need. Or you can vote people out if you feel new strategies are needed,” he added.

On Saturday, Comelec announced that it will shorten voter registration hours and suspend satellite registration due to the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Voter registration at the Office of the Election Officer (OEO) now runs from Mondays to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The issuance of voter’s certification, however, will be until 5 p.m.