Proof of Participation

I just came home from Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) Medic/Pollwatching Duty at our voting center in BF Homes Multipurpose Hall Phase I, Barangay BF Homes, Paranaque City.

Patient Census: two (2). One who came in due to "palpitations", and another due to fatigue. Turns out that both were stable and just tired of the morning heat.

With nothing much to do on the medical aspect and the "action", so to speak, being more at the voting center front lines, I decided to double up as a pollwatcher.

Lucky for me that my home precinct's Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) were courteous and of the peaceful kind, as were many others. The image of teachers out to cheat is so unfair to these men and women who slave away from 7:00am to midnight or even past, just to facilitate our democratic exercise.

When it came to the counting, our precinct finished somewhat earlier than the others, thanks in part to the BEI's third member being a college student perhaps a few years younger than me.

In all, it was an experience that was more relaxed than in 2004, maybe because back then I was Voting Center Manager (VCM) for NAMFREL, a job with more responsibilities than those expected of me this time around.

I hope and pray that the inconvenience and sacrifice felt by BEI members, pollwatchers, and support staff nationwide were all not in vain. Still, as one of the BEI members quipped (and to which I agree) - the cheating is not done in the precinct level. It's at the Canvassing where the likes of Garci do operate.