COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) in Davao Region conducted Tuesday a brief extension of registration processing so that those who have registered can have their biometrics taken, but that's all.

The announcement of extension came at a short notice.

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This is because Comelec-Davao Region regional director Remlane Tambuang said the regional office received the go signal from the central office at around 2:30 pm.

Tambuang lamented the short notice.

"Karon lang gyud nitawag ang central office. Karon ra gyud mi kabalo nga pwede na (The central office called us just now. We knew about it just now)," Tambuang said in a phone interview.

The processing extension was only from 8 p.m. to midnight.

Tambuang explained that the extension was not exactly an extension for new applicants but only for the processing.

"Actually, dili ni siya kanang extension gyud. Bale sa katong mga naka pasa na ug mga forms pero wala pa nakuhaan ug biometrics ang pwede mapadayon (Actually this is not exactly an extension. Only those who have passed application forms but whose biometrics were not taken can continue)," Tambuang said.

"Katong mga bago lang mag-submit ug mga forms dili na sila I-accommodate. Kato lang mga wala pa na-capture ilang mga picture, mga ana (Those who have just passed their forms will not be accommodated, only those whose pictures were not captured)," Tambuang added.

To solve the problem on information dissemination, Tambuang said they'll tap the media, especially the radio.

Tambuang said his estimate on the turn-out of the new voters "was more than the expected."

After Comelec clears the unfinished voters' registration, the agency will release the exact statistics of the voters' registration turnout, Tambuang said.

A television report said that starting November 20, the Comelec will also not have weekends and holidays anymore as the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) will be done every day, including weekends and holidays until midnight of December 1 from the previous November 30.

November 16, meanwhile, is the last day of submission of specimen signatures for those authorized to sign nominations.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo expects that the voters' list should be finished by February 2010, and then sent to the field since the list of voters must be in the hands of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) on time.