Juan woke up at 8:00 am today, May 14, elections day. He would have wanted to rise up earlier than 8:00 am but he was too tired out from work even on a Sunday that lasted 'til 9:00 pm last night. He must take advantage of the overtime pay which is just a fraction of his regular 8-hour pay. At past eight, after a mug of coffee and two pieces of pan de sal (he couldn't afford to eat more because there are only ten pieces of pan de sal and they are five in the family), he rose to his feet and trekked the path to the public school which is only less than a mile away.
Just the other day, there is news that the election supervisor, assigned in this public school, told the teachers who will assist that he will not be giving anymore the P300-allowance. He will be taking in-charge of the PUJs which will take them back and forth to the school. Juan agreed in his mind the teachers' clamor that the plan seemed anomalous. Why does the election supervisor need to hire PUJs when the school is less than a kilometer away? Majority of the teachers live nearby. Besides, paying P4,500 per PUJ is too much. It is not justifiable to spend that much when the P300 per teacher can be used for some acceptable purposes.
Walking to the school, pieces of sample ballots are scattered on the way, various people handing out these sample ballots are also scattered (and one is just sleeping in a secret place between two vehicles), and young boys are scattered along the narrow paths having a good time handing out leaflets. What a waste, he thought. After all these, anyone who wins (and who would be kaput after the much spending) will get even and will probably make everybody pay back for the lost funds or resources, he thought.
Reaching the public school, which is already swarming with people from different walks of life, he looked at his voter's ID for his precint number. He recalled a COMELEC official saying that all Filipinos today are pantay-pantay (on level pegging, or on equal footing) - no rich, no poor, no intelligent, no stupid - all are the same casting a single ballot. But then he thought about the corrupt, those in power (and power-hungry), the shameless, the rotten, who make other people feel that they can do anything they want, even exterminate those who vote for their opponent.
The queue is long and it is very hot. He thought he could have brought his anahaw fan, or a folded newspaper instead, to cool himself. He noticed, too, that the line is moving in a snail pace. He discovered at last that there is only one set of election personnel (they are three) attending to the voters of two precincts (each room accomodates voters of two precincts). He was told COMELEC cut the number. Probably cost cutting measures, he thought. And as if one in the queue had heard him, "So that they could put the savings in their pockets!"
With crossed brows, he sits on the little chair and prepares to write. Finally, here he is - about to vote, to cast a ballot, to exercise his right. But he could not make himself write. He is getting confused. Everybody in the list has this bad tale about his person. How does he know who is sincere? The ads did not do any good to all the thoughts running wild in his mind.
Thirty minutes after, he had made up his mind. He wrote in all the slots for senators his name - JUAN DE LA CRUZ - in bold letters.
Today is my first time to vote... weeeeeeeeeee... I have not yet tried even during the SK election.
ReplyDeleteFirst ajko sa nagcomment yehey!
ReplyDeleteKapeng barako at dalawang pan de sal. Ayos sana kung may matamis na ba-o man lang! Hayaan mo Bing, kapagka naloko ako at sumali sa pag-kandidato bilang kongresista sa bayan ni Juan eh mag-papamudmod ako ng libreng almusal para sa taong bayan. Choc-Nut palaman sa pan de sal, Pusit(nakatuhog) na ma-anghang palaman ng pan de sal, Matamis na ba-o at pan de sal, Dilis na ma-anghang at pan de sal at kasama nitong mga nabanggit ko ay ang itlog at sarsaprilla para pampalakas kay Juan para sipagin siyang lumakad at pumunta sa ibang botohan para bumoto pa ulit ng ilang beses!
ReplyDeletePanem et Circenses
ReplyDeletesayang naman ang vote ni juan . . . sayang naman 'yun oras niya sa pagpila.
ReplyDeletethe philippines is in desperate need of servant leaders, not power-hungry politicians.
congratulations to you, mon. :-D
ReplyDeletechoc nut at pan de sal? masubukan nga he he :-D
means, tk?
oo nga, e, gayle. pero sa pagiging desperado, nawawalan kasi ng saysay minsan ang lahat. :-(
the partial results of the elections seem to reflect that the Filipinos are wanting change, na nag-iisip na rin kahit paano. what i am worried about is kung matatapos na at imanipulate or dayain ang resulta.
Bread and circuses. during the roman times, the emperors could not alleviate the lot in life of the masses. So to quell potential revolts, they offer them these (instead of substantial change in the status quo)
ReplyDeleteAga ko rin pumila kaya lang nawawala yung name ko sa voters list, di rin nakaboto.
ReplyDeleteI guess Juan de la Cruz is too confused that he did not think clearly of what he really wanted to do. Obviously he is protesting but unfortunately he did it incorrectly. According to political lawyer, to show your protest, a voter should only write dashes instead of writing something else (like Juan dela Cruz) or unusual markings as this will only be voided or will be considered as walang kwentang ballot.
ReplyDeleteAt the end, Juan is the total loser because he wasted his money, his time and even his emotions.
Wish ko lang sana matuto na ang mga Pinoy na mag demand at mag assert ng kanyang karapatan.
that's ridiculous, tk. somehow resembling some situations in our country.
ReplyDeletesayang, no, ann? tsk tsk
So many anomalies even if only in the precinct level. So many kids handling out leaflets, campaigning for candidates which they themselves don't even know, looking forward for the probably only PhP 10 that would be handed to them right after the election day. So many voters confused whom to vote for.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a regular election day, don't you think? ^_^
ahhhh...never pa akong nakaboto..naka ilang election na kaya? 2 ata...oh well...
ReplyDeletetruly a nice opinion on the matter, myepinoy. i appreciate it a lot. actually, yun ang kulang sa karamihan ng mga Pinoy - to assert. :-)
ReplyDeleteyea, shari. sounds like one. nasasanay na kasi ang pinoy sa ganitong mga scenes, which is not really acceptable or normal.
yan ang di ko gagawin, verns, ang hindi bumoto.
Pinoy voters seemed to have painted themselves into a corner... sino pa ba ang dapat sisihin?
ReplyDeletea true picture of nonchalance, single.
ReplyDeleteako din first vote ko nung 14! ahihh. :) i only voted for 5 senators.. sana nilagay ko din ung name ko sa ballot. bwahaha. pagagalitan ba ako pag nilagay ko? nyahahaha.
ReplyDeletehayyy ang daming schemes.. echos.. kaya kung may gagawin ang COMELEC o isang public official.. wala na ung "all things are pure" kasi every move they make... may duda na ang lahat.. na theyre doing it because they want the money and to pocket the money.
Frustration... the idea of choosing between the devil and the deep blue sea is truly frustrating :( Juan should have stayed home and enjoyed the day off. If there was no money to spend or nothing much to do, having sex with his wife would have been the better option :)
ReplyDeletecant blame them, angelblush. :-D
ReplyDeletein this kind of weather, bw? buti kung me pambili kahit na ng pamaypay man lamang. he will not enjoy it also. he he :-D
So, how did the elections go?
ReplyDeleteI like this blog post. Simply written but very erudite.
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Belated Happy Mother's Day, Bing!
thank you, jayred! :-)
ReplyDelete'they' say it's 'relatively peaceful'. for me, it's like trying to appease the masses. election procedures and scenarios havent changed. but the electorate, i mean most of them, are learning the lessons very well except for some parts where the media people are not many, and the people are not that informed and prepared.
So sad really. Funny how in the past, I wanted to do this once, write my name on the ballot and have fun with it. But fear got the better of me when then I was just a young college student.
ReplyDeleteI felt really then (and perhaps now) how I had no clear choice, no one that I desired or admired, no candidate in my thoughts.
Kahit ngayon. Wala pa rin.
comment ka naman sakin.
ReplyDeleteso, hindi ka rin bumoto, major tom?
ReplyDeleteha ha ha, ok, mon, will do, righ after this comment. :-D
I've yet to vote though I just came to the legal age. Gotta wait for the elections here, which is next year. Heh.
ReplyDeletegood luck to you, kyels!
ReplyDelete