Pinoy Voters Academy
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MANILA, Philippines — Choosing the people she wanted to run her country used to be no problem for this young female voter from Caloocan. Faced with an assortment of candidates at the polling booth, she would simply pick the most recognizable names. Good looks and a strong public presence made the job much easier, too.
That was in 1995 and the female voter, then in her 20s, was probably too young to care.
But having participated in two presidential elections that all but solved the country’s lingering sociopolitical problems, she began to look back at the time when she cast her first ballot.
She realized that she and many others with the same voting attitude were partly to blame for what has become of Philippine politics and governance today.
An epiphany of sorts came soon after she attended a voters’ education program organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a church initiative that began 16 years ago.
Moved, she later confessed to Henrietta de Villa, PPCRV chair and former Philippine ambassador to the Vatican: “We really need to examine the candidates and examine our conscience before casting our ballot.”
Quiet, but effective, conversions like this are badly needed if Filipinos are really to change the current political culture, De Villa told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Tuesday.
“All of us must realize the value of every vote,” she said in Filipino. “It shouldn’t be wasted on candidates who really have nothing to offer but popularity, money, and political influence.”
The lesson rings true in each of the thousands of Filipinos — many of them “converts” like the Caloocan voter — now doing volunteer work for the PPCRV.
Come election time, the group organizes a voters’ education program that goes around the country mainly through dioceses, vicariates, parishes, and, in many areas outside of Metro Manila, Basic Ecclesiastical Communities (BECs).
BECs generally refer to groups of Catholics gathered to deepen their faith through activities like Bible study and sharing of individual experiences. In many areas in the provinces, they are organized to cover communities hardly reached by priests.
For the coming May elections, the PPCRV has dubbed its program “Pinoy Voters’ Academy,” taking off from the popular talent search show ostensibly to attract more supporters, especially among the young.
Since the PPCRV began work in September last year, De Villa said it has covered at least 35 of the country’s 86 dioceses.
It has also enlisted the support of the following groups to cover more areas: The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, Federation of Charismatic Communities and the Council of the Laity of the Philippines.
As in previous elections, De Villa expects many familiar faces to beef up the PPCRV effort especially on election and the equally exhaustive days of canvassing.
Simply put, volunteers like a 30-year-old man from San Miguel, Manila, would most likely be available to help ensure honest elections.
The man once ran into a village official who refused to leave the polling precinct after casting his vote. A poll watcher, he asked the official to leave as per election regulations.
But the official was so enraged that he slapped the poll watcher and even sued him afterward. The case was subsequently resolved and the lessons learned remain clear to the erstwhile poll watcher.
For the May elections, De Villa said the man had sought her blessings, saying he was planning to throw his support behind a candidate seeking the mayoral post in Manila.
De Villa said it was beyond the PPCRV’s goal to tell which candidates people should specifically root for. She can only hope that the man would be guided by conscience while seeing the bigger picture related to every vote cast.
“Remember that we’re doing all this for country and for God,” she said.
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Comments
5 Comments on Pinoy Voters Academy
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bea on
Thu, 25th Jan 2007 10:12 am
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reyna elena on
Thu, 25th Jan 2007 1:20 pm
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JC on
Thu, 25th Jan 2007 2:41 pm
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Barbeross on
Thu, 25th Jan 2007 8:19 pm
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c5 on
Fri, 26th Jan 2007 12:21 am
naku, may isang lugar sa aking prabins na kailangang unahin nilang i-educate. e sabi nga doon, kahit aso ang tumakbo as long as the dog has money, mananalo.
mahal na reyna, OT ito. i tagged you in my blog. wala lang hehehe. wag mo na lang gawin yung meme kung di mo feel. ikaw lang na-tag ko. kasi nahihiya pa sa iba rito na may blog tulad nina ross, JC, momnibochok, at chuva. hehehe
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bea! ok! laz comment kasi mababasag na tong itimnaberry ko sa kakakring! he he he MAG INTAY SILA SA REYNA! ano… kwan.. nakita ko na.. eh nagtaka nga ako’t ngayon mo lang na tag ang reyna? ang hirap pala bago ma-approve ang reyna sa site mo?
olso? ako? me problema sa me??? Oi.. me ADS ako anu? kulang pa bang ME yon? pagbalik ko! pagbalik ko!
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tita bea wala po akong matinong blog, nagkalat ang blog ko pero hanggang username at password pa lang ang laman hehe…prenster at yutsub lang peborit ko…yaan mo pag knowing ko na pano mag-blog mala-ross inbayt ko kayong lahaaatt…(kasi bay dat taym eh marami nang tao dito bago ko yun matapos hehehe)
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JC, abah nahagip name ko “mala ross” eh anjan namn sina chuvz and reynz na matindi ang blogs! kaya nga lagi ako and2 hehhe yun site ko hindi ko na update…october pa last…pero ngayon binibigyan nyo ako ng motivation…ibabalik ko na. Salamat din JC
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bago lang ako sa blogging and i’m still learning my way through…
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