Lim: Civic duties

I ARRIVE home just in time for the elections. But long before my plane touches down at Mactan, our precinct numbers and sample ballots are already ready. Oh yes. In our family, we take our civic duties seriously.

We traditionally hold a caucus before election day. We don’t necessarily vote for the same candidates but we get a chance to pitch for our choices and say our peace about why we are voting or not voting for particular candidates.

I hear the precincts open at six in the morning. I also hear about the expected 40 degree Celsius heat index on election day. I am going to avoid the heat like the plague. So on election day, I am up by five.

I am not going to the port or the airport. I am not scheduled for surgery either. It’s nothing short of a miracle. But by six in the morning, I’m at my precinct. Unfortunately, it doesn’t open to the public till 45 minutes later.

First, the tech guy tries to get the machine working. Then, the poll watchers vote. Then, the senior citizens follow. The rest of us citizens with no special status wait a while for our turn to vote.

It’s hot but I’m chill. I’m happy to be alive and able to vote. I can’t say I don’t wait with bated breath, though, for senior citizen status. The day I graduate to the fast lane can’t come any sooner.

Voting goes smoothly—at least for me. I bring a cheat sheet along. A good tip perhaps for those one million voters whose ballots were invalidated due to over-voting? Was it inability to understand instructions or just inattention? No matter the cause, the price was high.

Some election winners are a God-send. Others, I wish I had the power to permanently ban from public office. I don’t like politics. I don’t vote along party lines. I vote for people I believe can do the greatest good for the country, regardless of political party.

This, to me, is my foremost civic duty—to make non-partisan, informed choices that can alleviate the ills of my fellow Filipinos and advance the interests of my country.

This election has seen some upsets. Political dynasties have been dismantled. Neophytes have emerged to challenge long-entrenched traditional politicians and won. Let’s give everyone a chance to save this nation.

I, for one, will never give up.

Dare I dream of an electorate smart enough not to vote for candidates because they look good or because their surnames sound familiar? Dare I dream of an electorate principled enough to never sell their votes?

Maybe, I’ll never get to see clean elections, intelligent voting, true public servants in my lifetime but that won’t stop me from working towards making that dream, a reality. It matters not that I don’t live to see it. What matters is that I tried while I lived to make it happen. After all, this is not just for me. This is for my country.

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