WE HARDLY feel the urgency of our qualified voters to sign up for Commission on Elections (Comelec) registration even with the nearing of its deadline at the end of this month. Somehow it gives a glimpse of how the pulse of the population perceives the importance of our votes these days.
A friend once remarked “Why do I have to bother lining up at the Comelec when the people I vote for never win. Vote buying is so rampant even in the national level. I may as well not register or I might even be tempted to sell my vote.” It sounded so hopeless and sad yet somehow we all know that my friend just uttered a glaring reality in Philippine politics. Somehow our electoral system has lost its significance or at least its credibility.
Election has become a day to earn an extra sum of money from vote buying. Yes, there are speeches and campaigns but somehow these exercises may just be icing on a cake since we cannot know for certain how much of the results were really due to vote buying. Although this is still debatable and inconclusive since some say they did accept money in the last election but they really voted those they thought were the best candidates. Yet still, this is enough reason to doubt the integrity of election results not only in the local level but in the national level as well.
So why bother to register? In an attempt to establish the significance of the exercise of our constitutional right of suffrage, allow me to refresh us on the history of our democracy.
Our country had been ruled by foreign colonizers who dictated everything we do; from what time we had to wake up, what work we had to do, and how little we had to receive from our hard day’s labor if we ever receive anything at all. Until such time when our forefathers got into their senses and realized that enough was enough. They fought with their lives to make sure that the coming generations would not have to put up with the hardships they had endured.
Now that we have our freedom, we opted to adopt the system of representative democracy for the very reason that everyone should be given a voice in the development of our nation. We could have gone back to a monarchic system or even communism yet our history would teach us that the only way to safeguard the welfare of our people is when everyone is given the power to choose who will represent us in policy making and governance. This is what voting was made for; not so that we can earn a thousand pesos during election.
Come to think of it, the only reason why vote buyers win during elections was because most of us think that our one vote does not really matter and so some of us do not bother to register. Others who have registered do not cast their votes on election day, and still others sell their votes thinking it would not make much difference. This mentality has to change.
Voting helps us decide who among the political candidates can make our future better. If we do not vote, we give away our right to influence the government. If we do not vote, we take away the voice of the majority to govern and replace it with the voice coming only from the few. If we do not vote, we are no different from our forefathers who submitted themselves to be ruled as slaves, the only difference was that they did not know better then but now we do.
Our one vote can determine whether the next three years will be peaceful and progressive. It will determine whether there will be jobs for us or not. It will determine whether we can walk freely in our city even at night without fearing that we might get robbed or get hurt. So before you sell it for a thousand bucks or so, think first if your next three years is only worth that much.
On that note, the Comelec reminds us that the deadline for voter registration is on September 30.