It is easy to be cynical. It is easy to stand on the side lines, throws jeers and send out sighs of disappointment about the issues that bombard our country. It is easier to lay back, throw eloquent criticisms at the government, and enjoy the privilege of being an anonymous disgruntled Filipino citizen. But to actually endeavor to be part of the solution– is a more noteworthy task than watching the Philippines sink deeper into its own mud hole.

Photo credit from First time voters project

I am 21 years old, and I am a newly registered voter.

By the 2010 national elections, “First Time Voters Network said roughly 60 percent of the 2010 electorate will come from the age bracket of 18 to 40 years old.” Many analysts have said that the voting trend in the Philippines next year might follow what happened in the last US elections, with the youth providing the swing vote which elected current president Barack Obama.

In an article in the Philippine Star website, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) national chair Henrietta de Villa, said that young Filipinos could produce 30 million voters on election day. “Their number is not only enough to have a swing vote, but to elect the four top leaders.”

The 30 million youth segment of the voting population could not come in such bulk of a number without the individual people who have chosen to go out, register, and eventually vote. I believe that more than being resigned to the depressing state of our country, a more positive and beneficial course of action would be to think of and act on what we could personally do to contribute to the salvation of the Philippines.

I urge every Filipino citizen, here or abroad, reading this post to please register for the next elections. Your non-vote could potentially let unworthy candidates get an easier grip on vital government positions. Let us not discount the power of collective action.

Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand

-Bodie Thoene

Visit these sites for information on how to register:

Bagongbotante.ph

First time voters project

Sources:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleid=431343)

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/youth/05/20/09/first-time-voters-excited-anxious-2010

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Philippines License.

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June 10th, 2009 by Aubrey An FEU alumni waiting to be awed by the not-so-usual and even mundane twists of life.