Cebu still No. 1 vote-rich province

CEBU, Philippines – With 2.7 million registered voters, Cebu remains the number one province in the country with the highest number of votes, according to the Commission on Elections.

The latest figure is nine percent higher or 225,000 more registered voters compared to the 2.5 million data in 2013.

There are a total of 53 towns and component cities in Cebu, including the three independent cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu. Of the 2.7 million registered voters in the province, at least 630,000 come from Cebu City.

The highly urbanized City of Lapu-Lapu has 188,815 registered voters, Talisay City has 120,240, Toledo City (103, 658), and Mandaue City (189, 712).

Cebu outpaced Cavite with 1.84 million registered voters, Pangasinan (1.7 million), Laguna (1.67 million), Negros Occidental (1.66 million), Bulacan (1.64 million), Batangas (P1.5 million), Rizal (1.4 million), Nueva Ecija (1.3 million), and Pampanga (P1.2 million).

Most of the vote-rich provinces are located in CALABARZON or Region IV-A. The National Capital Region (NCR), on the other hand, recorded 6.2 million registered voters.

The 10 vote-rich provinces make up more than 16 million, or 30 percent of the entire 54 million voting population in the country.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec-Cebu election supervisor, said he expects a higher turnout of voters in Cebu in May because it is a presidential election.

“Usually kung presidential election taas gyod na,” he said over the phone.

But Comelec records show that 80 percent of the total registered voters turned up during the midterm polls in 2013, surpassing the 77 percent posted in 2010.

Castillano added that the active participation of the Cebuanos in the elections would also attract national candidates.

The campaign period for the national positions including party-list will start on February 9. As for the local positions, the campaign period will start on March 25. — Michael Vencynth H. Braga/FPL (FREEMAN)