My vote

This 82-year-old is an optimist,” my friend texted when I asked what she thought about the election, if it was a waste of time and if she was going to vote. “Of course I believe my vote counts! Or I would not bother voting.”But, she adds, “I am also a realist, so… Ha! I know there are a lot of shenanigans, a fancy word for cheating… Let us keep educating our youth so we can get out of our feudal state of dynastic rule.”

Wise words, yet hopeful, not succumbing to the cynicism that the sorry state of our politics, our government so easily fosters.

Unfortunately, I cannot state with as much conviction that my vote yesterday matters, that it will make even an iota of difference. I wanted to join the early voting for seniors and PWDs, but I overslept. So I joined the hoi polloi at my polling place, armed with a payong and my trusty pamaypay, my Comelec ID and a generous store of patience. I psyched myself that I would not complain about the long line, or the heat, or whatever aggravation awaited me.

The voting process turned out to be less painful and stressful than I thought it would be. In the gym where I voted, there was a “Priority” space right by the entrance where seniors and PWDs could vote. My silver hair attracted a volunteer who, aside from helping me and my brother and sister-in-law find our precinct and cluster, suggested we go up to the second floor, since the ground floor priority area did not have an ACM to read the ballots and we’d have to wait. Upstairs, more volunteers shepherded us through the process, and we were done in less than15 minutes.

Alas, while it is true that the ballot makes everyone equal, not all polling places are equal. At a public school in the next barangay, seniors and PWDs had to join the madding crowd. A friend who voted there reported that seniors queued up with everyone else and a man who had difficulty walking had to make his way up to the third floor on his own, kindly folks letting him go ahead and helping him up the steep and narrow stairs. There were hardly any volunteers and it was, as my friend said, sariling sikap to find your precinct. I’m sure many other schools all over the country serving as polling places had the same or similar problems; will the Comelec please focus on solving these basic problems before the next election?

Anyway, corny as it may sound, I voted because it is my duty, my right and my privilege as a citizen. Whether they cheat and steal my vote, or by some tech magic – witchcraft may be the more accurate term – frustrate not just my will but the will of the majority, I will not let them win by default.

For senators I voted for those I believe are decent people (I only managed seven), those who I trust will actually work for the benefit of the people… whether they were rating in surveys or not, some of them practically unknown to most of the 68,431,965 registered voters and who cannot sing or dance to boost their candidacies.

A friend from the Philippine Army who had just completed command and staff training and is awaiting the order for deployment to the frontlines as battalion commander – I am so proud of him, as I have known him from when he was just a newly commissioned officer – has given me renewed hope that maybe, just maybe, we are not as rotten and hopeless as the current political situation indicates.

In response to my question on whether he would be voting (yes, of course) and if he believes his vote matters, he texted:

“My vote definitely matters ma’am. As a soldier, the only time that I am allowed to be non-partisan is during the actual casting of vote, hence, such undertaking matters because it allows me to exercise my civic duty and responsibility to participate in selecting the leaders of our country who will be vested with the immense responsibility of charting our country and nation’s future.

“In short, my participation in elections matters because it could spell the difference for us, for our children, and for our children’s children.”

Willing and ready to serve our country with such honor and integrity, willing and ready to confront whatever challenges and dangers await him and his troops at the frontlines, willing and ready to stake his future – and that of his young children – on the leaders this election will give us… how can I do any less?

I therefore challenge the senators, congressmen, governors, mayors and all other officials – 18,320 positions were up for grabs – who will emerge with a mandate in this election: can you step up and serve in your posts with the same honor and integrity shown by this soldier and by thousands of others like him? How can you dare to even think of and plan to line your already fat pockets with ayuda a.k.a. kurakot when millions of workers struggle to stretch their salaries, hoping the money will last until the next payday without their having to make utang or ask for yet another advance just to feed their families?

I so desperately want to have the optimism of my 82-year-old friend and, like my brave young soldier, believe that you who are assuming office on June 30 will indeed spell the difference – for the better – for us, for the youth and for the generations of Filipinos to come.