Time to Vote, Guise. // July 10, 2009

I, Carina, am admittedly one of the people who are least interested in general politics. I am concerned, however, about the upcoming 2010 Philippine elections, enough to go and register as a voter. Interest in registration stemmed from mostly from a) being so tired of the current government, and b) being (understandably) terrified for the future of the Philippines, given the roster of politicians who currently have their eye on the presidential seat.

Ever since they changed procedures (Before, you could register at your own barangay hall, whereas now, you have to go to your local COMELEC office to do so), I’d been apprehensive about registration because it seemed to be so time-consuming. I heard about so many horror stories from people looking to register and just really didn’t want to have to go through with the whole game.

The registration process itself is easy enough. You just fill out a form in triplicate, bring a photocopy of a valid ID (with address) and wait in line, after which you’d be asked to sign stuff, take a picture and record your fingerprints. Aaaand then, you are done. I wish I could tell you it was that easy-peasy to register. COMELEC uses DCMs (or Data Capturing Machines) to record your data, which sounds really progressive (as opposed to manual encoding), however:

Problem #1: Each machine can only process 200 registrants a day.
Problem #2: Each district COMELEC office has only one or two of these machines to do the deed.

Not to discourage potential voters, but I went to my local COMELEC office twice — my sister went three times — and still did not emerge victorious. Plus, I had to deal with this unsightly, not to mention SHAMELESS, poster:

SHAMELESS

Talk about subliminal. If you can’t read it, VICE MAYOR Bistek Bautista wants you to EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE.

The first time we went to Quezon City Hall, the COMELEC “wasn’t there.” Basta lang walang tao. They went to some barangay or something like that, and left their post, basically. The second time we went, we went before class, and went after a few minutes of waiting because the line was monstrously long and refused to move.

Fortunately, my barangay opened their office today for registrants and I went before going to class. (You might want to check with your barangay hall to see if they are doing this, too, because I kid you not, the COMELEC office lines are always long.) Please note my look of victory:

Photo 71

I promise, I’m happier on the inside.

Was it worth all the trouble to go through all those hoops that the government seemed to purposely make you go through? Absolutely. The way I see it, participating in the elections — especially if we can — is one of the best ways to do something about the things we are unhappy about. I learned from my professor that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won because of only 11 million votes. The Youth Vote is made up of about 30 million Filipinos. You do the math.

Don’t worry about being cheaters during the elections. We’ll cross the bridge when we get there. The important thing is, by registering to vote, you are actually taking one step towards the government that you wish to have, instead of just whining about it. Action begets action. We are all unhappy about the country, but what are you going to do about it?

The deadline for registration is October 31, 2009, but you might want to register as soon as you can. COMELEC offices are open Monday-Saturday, 8AM – 5PM, including holidays. Here are some helpful links because I’m dumb at explaining things:

  1. COMELEC Website, where you can see the registration schedule and download the forms
  2. COMELEC Blog, for updates
  3. Important Philippine Voter Registration Information by Ganns Deen, which explains some of the different process like transfer of voting areas, update of information, etc.
  4. Information on Absentee Voting from GMA News.
  5. An article on Youth Vote Philippines

On a tangentially related, but funny note, when it was my older brother’s turn to record his fingerprints (they have a scanner, like the one in the U.S. airports), he pressed his digits on the cardboard diagram, declaring afterwards: “I watch too much Sci-Fi.” If only we were that advanced.

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5 Comments »

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  1. Very proud of you for this sudden burst of political interest. :D Registered on my birthday and it was awesome!

    Comment by Raymond — July 10, 2009 #

  2. I NEED TO REGISTERRR.

    Comment by Martin — July 11, 2009 #

  3. Raymond, yay! Who are you voting for?

    Maaartin! Ask your barangay if they are going to, uh, “host” registration anytime soon. Are you District 3? Alam ko, the school has a special satellite registration thing eh.

    Comment by Carina — July 11, 2009 #

  4. Was just flitting through cyberspace and came across this. Glad to see that people are getting to see the importance of this :)

    And kudos to you for pushing through despite your numerous failed attempts at registering ;)

    Comment by Arriane — July 26, 2009 #

  5. Hey Arianne, thanks for leaving a comment. Haha, I’d been complaining so much about the government, I guess I finally realized it’s probably time for me to get involved. Thanks again :)

    Comment by Carina — July 27, 2009 #

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