PERSONNEL of the Commission on Elections have started holding seminars in schools to encourage the youth to participate in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections this year.

“It is our hope that we will be able to reach even the remotest island municipalities and the farthest barangay in the fulfillment of our mandate to educate and inform in order to engender a more active and engaged Filipino electorate,” the poll body said.

The elections was supposed to be held in December last year but was moved to October 2023.

The commission, in partnership with the Department of Education, identified 30 schools to visit in various provinces from January 9-13.

It said that 4,629 senior high school students in the provinces of Isabela, Cagayan, Negros Oriental, Tarlac, Bohol, Lanao del Norte, Davao, Zamboanga and Capiz attended the seminars.

The seminar discussed the importance of being a voter, the step-by-step process of voter registration, the qualifications and duties of elected officials in the Barangay and SK, and the fight against disinformation in elections, among others.

The Comelec said it also held satellite registration in the schools.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia thanked the agency’s field officials, as well as school officials and teachers for the successful conduct of the activities.

The voters registration for BSKE will last until January 31, 2023.