My Dirty Finger

My first taste of Philippine National Elections was during the summer of 1992. It was the month of the 10th birthday and my uncle, dad's eldest brother, was running for mayor in our hometown, Calumpit, Bulacan.

For me, an incoming fifth-grader at that time, it was all fun and games. Two weeks of vacation with cousins that I rarely see, smiling and waving at people that I barely knew, and being allowed to stay up late, helping with folding papers (if I remember correctly, they were sample ballots) and packing food for the people at the headquarters -- which was at my grandparents' garage, just below my father's room in our ancestral house.

For a child who was used to being alone, a very noisy house was an exciting change. At that young age, I was amazed at how politics -- or at least, the campaigning part -- is done at the local level. Politics has always been close to my heart since then.

One of the defining moments in my life happened the night after that election. There was no electricity -- as what always happens before. My Aunt, the wife of the candidate, was sitting on the dining table, by the candlelight and crying. One of our relatives or supporters -- I can't really remember -- was comforting her. All I can remember is that she was crying. And I heard that she said these words: "Wala namang problema kung natalo tayo, pero nanalo tayo. Dinaya tayo. Lantarang dinadaya tayo." From then on, cheating, even on the lowest level, is a capital sin for me.

The next day, I was awoken by my dad, telling me to dress up and we're going out. I did as I was told. When I went outside, I saw a fleet of cars and jeeps of supporters outside. "Akala ko natalo si Uncle?" was my question.

An adult answered, "Oo, pero magpapasalamat tayo."

It was hot, we weren't really in a very festive mood. But what really broke my little heart was seeing people on the streets crying as we passed. They did not expect that we'd lose.

That was how politics was introduced to me. Dirty. Immoral. Unpredictable. Since then I was excited to wait for my turn to vote. The recent elections was my fifth -- and second presidential -- elections. But now, I chose to be more proactive. Learning from lessons in the past, I know that my duty as a citizen does not end when the BEI puts indelible ink on my finger. In reality, my duty in guarding my vote has officially commenced.

I am not a voter in my family's domicile in Bulacan. I chose to be counted in the town where I grew up in, here in Laguna. And as my contribution to a true and peaceful election, even though my family supports a certain mayoralty candidate, I chose to be non-partisan. I decided to volunteer in the Church's citizen arm -- Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.

I was stationed at the Parish, coordinating with all pollwatchers and help desks. Making sure they were well-fed, well-hydrated and safe. There were a few glitches in our system since our planning and orientations only started at the start of May. I was tired. My body was working against me. But what I did was nothing compared to the pollwatchers stationed in the voting centers. The heat was utterly unbearable. And the delay because of the PCOS machines didn't help. But thankfully, by 10 am, all voting centers were up and about. By 5 pm, we were preparing the church courtyard for our Unofficial QuickCount. But 7 pm came and went, 8 pm passed by... but there were no results in yet. Apparently the giant garbage can (also known as PCOS Machine) had problems communicating with other garbage cans.

By midnight, I had to go home, mom was alone. I left the Quick Count to my cousin who was willing to wait for the whole night. But even as I was already preparing for bed, my phone was still busy. I still had to coordinate with pollwatchers still in the precincts, making sure that they had proper transportation. When I got up the next morning, I saw the list of winners posted on my door, my cousin just got in. Our 'QuickCount' lasted until 6 am.

I looked sadly at the list. My mayoralty bet did not win. But well, there is nothing I can do about that. Our work in PPCRV is done. It's time to move on.

As of this writing, the Congress has yet to proclaim the national results of the elections. But the local posts are slowly being filled up. What really surprises me is that people keep on chanting "pagbabago" but still elected the same old names and even gave power back to the people who drained the resources of this country. I will not be surprised if another martial law will be ordered in the next ten years or so.

I thought the Filipino people would easily learn from the mistakes in the past. Clearly, I was wrong. Sen. Aquino may be in a commanding lead but look at who is trailing behind. I was expecting a close battle between Aquino and Villar. I thought that the people have learned. I thought wrong.

And as for the Senate, most of the twelve slots are filled up with names that I did not think would even surface. Most of them are just in the 'Committee on Silence' in the Senate. Whatever happened to those screaming for change? Apparently, electing people to the senate still relies mainly on name-recall and not platforms or programs of action.

With my very high expectations of failure of elections, I was really pleased that the elections generally went well. Except for the part where people had to line up for hours under the blistering heat, the elections was okay. A little more tweaking hear and there and maybe next elections, things will be better.

And whoever said that the indelible ink is substandard? Yeah, tell that to my dirty finger.