Cebu City welcomes 300 new young voters

THE National Youth Commission (NYC), in cooperation with the Commission on Elections, yesterday conducted an offsite school registration at the University of Cebu main campus.

Some 300 young voters in Cebu City will now be eligible to vote in next year’s elections.

NYC Commissioner for the Visayas Erwin Andaya said that based on their nationwide survey, youth participation in the 2010 elections was only 52.3 percent. The country’s youth population, Andaya said, is one-third of the total population.

Goal

Also, he said some five million youths are set to become first-time voters next year.

“So we have to get that five million to be registered so they can participate in next year’s elections. That’s our goal,” he said, adding that there has to be an increase in youth participation in governance.

Andaya said youth participation is significant as they have the capability to put into public office leaders who are accountable, transparent and responsive to the needs of the public.

Yesterday’s activity, however, did not accommodate first-time voters or those whose registration expired after failing to vote in the last two national elections.

The offsite school registration, Andaya said, kicked off a series of voters’ education campaign and is in support of the Philippine Youth Development Plan’s objective of raising the level of youth’s involvement in government.