Resuming essential tasks

This week marks the return to work and school. This is normally not an easy process after the long holiday break. Gratefully, after some time, readjustment sets in and the back-to-work-mode returns. Students and faculty are back in school with papers to complete and to check. Workers are back at their work site. More public vehicles now carry more passengers. Air and sea ports are busy. It is back to normal routine for most. The Cebuanos, however, will have another long week-end break during the Feast of Sto. Niño soon. Generally, however, it will be months before the next long Christmas and New Year break.

We are also reminded to return to a vigilant mode in preparation for 2010, the next election year. A watchful, informed citizenry may yet usher in genuine sincere leadership soon to this country. Much work and preparation are needed, however, for resuming these essential tasks for building a stronger nation with sincere public servants.

One crucial step is to ensure that 2010 proceeds, that the right of our people to vote is assured. Hence, Chacha and all attempts to cancel or nullify the next 2010 elections must be challenged successfully with unity and persistence by all Filipinos who cherish real democracy.

Ensuring clean, honest elections should also be started as early as now. Again, united efforts from all sectors will have to be mustered to ensure that electoral processes and results proceed honestly and smoothly.

Senator Nene Pimentel issued a timely reminder to Comelec to clean up the voters' list, to purge the official voters' list of possible illegitimate voters. If Comelec official Melo is saying that without budget, the voters' list cannot be cleaned, Comelec may wish to ask for multisectoral ideas and collaborative assistance to meet the challenges of this very important step to ensure a clean voters' list for 2010.

Not only Comelec, but all sectors again will have to ensure the widespread and official registration of all voters, especially among the youth and among our overseas Filipinos. If all the voters from these sectors get to officially register and exercise their right of suffrage and informed discernment to vote for genuine public servants, If the youth and the overseas Filipinos get their act together, they can determine the outcome of 2010 election, being the largest voting blocs,

Comelec should already install a more transparent yet effective system at the polling areas, reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of past electoral experiences to guide their office and personnel to ensure clean, honest, smooth elections.

All sectors also have to sit together and create a collaborative effective network to assist Comelec towards the exercise of a genuinely clean, honest electoral exercise by 2010. There is still time for all to prepare for genuine public servants to take over the reins of government. Education, installation of effective systems and networks of information, registration, election and post-election canvassing and tabulation procedures can jumpstart the essential tasks to rebuild a nation we can all be proud of.

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