DUMAGUETE CITY (PNA) — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental has declined accepting new applications here for voters' registration pending further directives from the poll body's central office in Manila.

Acting Election Supervisor for Negros Oriental, Atty. Eddie Aba, said people have started flocking to the different Comelec offices in the towns and cities in the province following the Supreme Court's resolution extending the voters' registration period to Jan. 9, 2010.

However, Aba said that the High Tribunal's resolution does not automatically take effect and therefore the Comelec cannot just immediately receive and facilitate new applications for registration of voters.

According to Aba, the poll body has filed a motion for reconsideration on the SC ruling on the extended voters' registration period as it would cause inconvenience to the poll body and prejudice pre-election activities, Aba said.

Aba also said that he is personally against the extension of the voters' registration period as it would result in more tedious work for them as there would be revisions in the clustering of precincts and updating of the final list of voters in Negros Oriental.

He said voters were given more than enough time to register during the year, and in fact, the Comelec provincial official said, “the poll body’s offices were open on weekends towards the end of the registration period, but many people tend to act at the last minute.”

He lamented that Filipinos are used to being "pampered" and said that extending the voters' registration period would only reinforce that attitude.