DUMAGUETE CITY, Sept. 3 (PNA) –- As the country girds up for the upcoming 2016 presidential polls, calls are being sounded off by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and church-based groups for the youth to register and take part in the electoral process next year.
Speaking in a convocation at Foundation University Wednesday afternoon during the official launching of the One Good Vote campaign in Negros Oriental, Atty. Gildu Agoncillo, election officer of Dumaguete City, stressed that if all the young people of voting age would participate in the 2016 polls, that alone is enough to elect a president.
According to Atty. Agoncillo, of the country’s total registered voters of 54 million, 37 percent of this or 20 million comprise the youth voters.
He told the students of Foundation University that their vote matters and they are already considered as politically mature to decide who to choose as their next set of leaders.
Agoncillo cited the idealism of the youth, who at their young age, do not have yet any affiliation with political candidates or leaders and are not as easily swayed by the ills of dirty politics.
He told them to not be a political bystander or an impatient idealist but instead register and vote in 2016.
The COMELEC conducted an on-site registration at the Foundation University campus during the convocation as part of the voters’ education of the said university.
Meanwhile, the One Good Vote campaign of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) was officially launched during the convocation with Msgr. Julius Heruela leading the simple ceremony.
Heruela, PPCRV local chair and at the same time convenor of the Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete, asked the students to download the online apps One Good Vote to compatible mobile phones so they will be updated with the 2016 elections.
The priest also disclosed that part of the One Good Vote campaign is to find one “sitio” or sub-village in Negros Oriental where it shall be piloted and another one in Siquijor province, which is part of the coverage of the Diocese of Dumaguete.
Students who will volunteer for the campaign will be trained and fielded to these pilot sub-villages where they will be going on a house-to-house campaign to discourage vote-buying, said Msgr. Heruela.
Families who make a commitment to back the campaign will have a sticker pasted on their home identifying them as a supporter of the One Good Vote advocacy.
The PPCRV targets 86 “sitios” or sub-villages nationwide as pilot areas for the One Good Vote, Heruela disclosed.
He explained that in olden days, vote buying involved individual voters but the current trend shows that an entire sub-village or even a village is being “bought” by crooked politicians and political candidates.
Vote buying is a sin, he warned. Nowadays, it is no longer the rule of the people but money instead that speaks, especially during the election season, he added.
Also present during the convocation was Tess Tejero of Dilaab Foundation, Inc., a church-based movement that promotes the LASER test for voters to decide on to who vote for during the elections based on values and realistic criteria.
LASER stands for guide questions on Lifestyle, Accomplishments, Supporters, Election Conduct and Reputation of a political leader or candidate that a voter must thoroughly consider before voting for that person.
Msgr. Heruela said the sub-village to be adopted for the One Good Vote in Negros Oriental would most likely be in Valencia town although it has not been finalized yet. (PNA)