A hard-earned right

ACCORDING to an announcement made by the Department of Foreign Affairs, only 159,100 newabsentee voters have registered for the past six months for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) registration which ends on August 31. That’s roughly about only 16 percent of the expected one million registrants overseas.
Lawmakers have fi led a resolution that extends the deadline to December 15, in order to give more time for overseas Filipinos to register and participate in the upcoming 2010 elections.
In the Philippines, The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has reiterated its request for Filipinos to register and exercise their right to vote for the May 2010 national and presidential elections as the deadline for registration is only until October 31.
 
The COMELEC had to go out of its way in order to attract more voters, establishing satellite offi ces in schools, village halls and public facilities.
According to Commissioner Armando Velasco, “Under the law,registration cannot be done anywhere else but in the offi ce of the Election Offi cers. But what the Comelec did was that it issued a resolution authorizing satellites.”
It is rather ironic, that after all the meaningful events that have ensued for the past months – the controversial constituent assembly and the rift it has caused between the Senate and the House of Representatives; allegations made that Pres. Arroyo’s visit to the White House would only benefi t her personal interest; and the bereavement caused by the death of a most beloved leader, former President Corazon C. Aquino that has compelled thousands of Filipinos to gather in the streets once more and relive her fi ght for democracy – this is what it all boils down to.
The democracy that we fought for with Pres. Cory Aquino, when she took the ropes from an autocratic rule in 1986, carries with it a hard-earned privilege – our right to vote.
Voting empowers us to choose the right leaders. The macrocosm of governance, however vast and powerful it may be, is determined by the microcosm of the individual vote.
To be indifferent to this right, this privilege is to be indifferent to the democracy that was bestowed upon us, one that we had to bravely fi ght for with a People Power revolution.
The demise of Pres. Cory Aquino should not signal the death of our nationalism. It should inspire us even more to become responsible citizens of our nation and to become vigilant guardians of our freedom.(AJPress)
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( Published on August 8, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A12 )