Sitio Kapihan and SBSI
Sitio Kapihan is a 353-hectare protected landscape and the home of almost 5,000 members of the SBSI.
With the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ cancellation of the Protected Area Community-Based Resource Management Agreement (PACBRMA) with the SBSI, this will result in the relocation and resettlement of around 1,425 households based in Sitio Kapihan.
Thus, Comelec has identified this place as a vulnerable area for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE).
During the previous elections, Comelec reported that a single precinct hosted the 2,223 SBSI voters, who comprised almost 13 percent of Socorro town's 17,385 registered voters.
Comelec Caraga reported 3,406 voters in Barangay Sering during the Election Registration Board hearing on April 24.
Garcia said that during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections 2023, only 84 percent of the nation’s qualified voters cast their votes in the recent polls. That is why the Comelec launched the Registration Anywhere Program (RAP) to bring registration closer to the Filipino people and to register every Filipino voter regardless of geographical location and political challenges.
“The first area that we visited was the Spratly Islands, or the Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan, which gained 50 new voters. We are not looking at the number, as our main goal is that every voter should exercise their right to vote on the 2025 NLE,” the chairperson said.
He shared that they recently conducted a two-day simultaneous RAP at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat and Camp Abubakar, Barira, both in the province of Maguindanao del Norte, on April 15-16. This served as a historic event since the Comelec was able to visit the camps of the Moro Integrated Islamic Front's (MILF) and encouraged qualified residents to file their application for voter’s registration.
Meanwhile, the Comelec has also partnered with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) to facilitate a news conference in Sitio Kapihan.
“Mas maganda na nandito yong media, dahil sila mismo ang magsasabi na pwede kayong bumoto sa susunod na eleksyon,” Garcia said.
[It is better that we have the media here with us so they can report to the public that you can vote in the next elections.]
He also assured the SBSI members that Comelec will look into setting up a precinct inside Sitio Kapihan so voters will no longer traverse the five-kilometer road to reach the nearest school to vote.
