i'm not sure if it really convinced the people who read my essay, but i wrote down that non-voters still needed to voice out their opinions. i mean, non-voters have minds too, and since we were all taught to read, write and talk, then definitely we're able to express our opinions freely. if non-voters do that, then surely those who are at the right age (for example their parents) would be able to add those opinions to their list of pros and cons, making the May 2010 elections so much more meaningful and well-thought.
well, that's definitely how i looked at it during September of last year, but it sure seems different now.
about a month ago, my org mates basically just showed up in the middle of the night to ask me to sign a PPCRV application form. i've been hearing them say something about PPCRV but i haven't really payed attention to them. i didn't even asked details: i just took the paper and wrote on it without even thinking of what i was getting myself into (although i know it wasn't bad because my organization's not some illegal thing).
so i did a little research on what this so called PPCRV was and lo and behold, it had something to do with the elections.
PPCRV stands for Parish Pastoral Council For Responsible Voting and from what i understand, it's a movement for
"Clean,Honest, Accurate, Meaningful and Peaceful election(s)"
Honestly, because of my schedule as a Senior, i haven't been to the past meetings before but last last Saturday, i was able to attend one. It was even an emergency meeting so i was the only one from my org who was present.
but it wasn't at all bad. i found out that what we're really supposed to do was to educate the masses of the upcoming elections, how they should vote and use the new and advanced election system the government has put up, share guidelines on how they should choose from the many candidates and so on.
i'm a non-voter honestly, so i listened carefully. i found the election process to be quite interesting, especially the new electronic system the whole Philippines would be using come May 10. it's a tad bit complicated, and a lot of questions were raised about how and what will happen after so and so person does this and that to the ballot.
after the meeting, all the way home, i was thinking how important the elections were and that people should actually take it really seriously. i've heard stories of how people would really sell their votes for money. the way i see it, it's like selling your soul.
in economics, our teacher presented to us a dozen of graphs showing the Philippine economy, our imports, our exports, our priorities, our GNPs and GPAs, and i felt a little sad that (honestly) our economy has started to dwindle down.
'it's because of corruption'
oh yes, corruption. the way people on top pocket money for themselves. why? when they die, will God eventually ask them how much money they had when they were alive? i don't even think the physical things matter in heaven and i'm pretty sure we're all going there one way or another without anything, even a coin.
i can see that we Filipinos are really hard workers and we really are a diligent bunch, but nothing will happen to us if everyone on top aren't willing to help us out.
i know being a volunteer in the PPCRV is just like being another tiny molecule in the ocean, but i hope it makes a difference. not even. if everyone just thought of being honest and fair for once, then maybe life would turn better and in the near future, we'll all rise from this poverty we're in and finally take-off to the next level :)
--shing
references:
Parish Pastoral Council For Responsible Voting official website: click here
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