LUSOT na sa plenaryo ng Kamara de Representantes ang panukala na gawing regular non-working holiday ang national election ng bansa upang mas marami ang mahimok na bumoto.

“With this proposed legislation, we hope to get the maximum participation of our voters in the national elections which is one of the most important activities that they should do as Filipinos. The right to suffrage is guaranteed by our Constitution and we want to value and protect this right by making sure that voters would no longer worry about missing work,” sabi ni Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, lider ng 312 miyembro ng Kamara.

“This bill will also benefit our kababayans who work in Metro Manila or other places and need to file for leaves just so they can travel back to their provinces. We want to make sure that we assist them by declaring national elections as a regular holiday so they can exercise their right to vote hassle free,” dagdag pa ng lider ng Kamara na kumakatawan sa unang distrito ng Leyte.

Batay sa House Bill No. 8187, kabilang sa maituturing na ‘national elections’ ang plebisito, referendum, people’s initiative, recall election, special election, regional elections, at iba pang kahalintulad na botohan na botohang pang nasyunal.

Aamyendahan ng panukala ang Section 26, Chapter 7, Book I ng Executive Order No. 292, o “The Administrative Code of 1987”, as amended.

Sa kasalukuyan mayroong labindalawang regular holiday at dalawang nationwide special days sa ilalim ng Administrative Code.

Kabilang sa may-akda ng panukala sina Representatives JC Abalos, Maximo Dalog Jr., Elipidio “Pidi” Barzaga Jr., Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar, Keith Micah D.L. Tan, at France Castro.

Ang pinakahuling general election sa bansa ay idinaos noong May 9, 2022 habang ang midterm elections at susunod na presidential elections ay magaganap sa 2025 at 2028.