COMELEC 2013: VOTER'S PLIGHT

I am 18 and in the Philippines, it is during this age that you are entitled to vote. This October, we all know that we would have our barangay and SK elections. The registration period ends tomorrow and I thought since my schedule would be free for tomorrow I could go and register so I could vote this coming October. What a casual thing to say, no? I'll just drop by after my class fill up a form, have an interview, have my picture taken and wait for my I.D. but I was dead wrong. My uncle, who just came home from Qatar needed to renew/reactivate his voter I.D. and he has been in line since yesterday 2 a.m. No sleep, while COMELEC's employees arrive and start processing at 10 am. No eating during the whole day while most of COMELEC employees take their lunch breaks and coffee breaks in a well ventilated room and those on queue wait for them to finish, under the sun. The best part is, despite all his efforts, HE GOT CUT-OFF. Why do they a lot a very short amount of time for an operation as big as this? Registration period started last July 22 and it ends tomorrow, July 31. They should at the very least allocate a month for this not 10 bloody days. Most especially since they could not accommodate the volume of people who wants to register. Were they thinking that "Oh Filipinos are lazy, even if we allocate more time they would still show up on the last day of registration!" this may be true for some but don't we all have the freedom to choose when to go? Is it too absurd that people wouldn't have to drop what they are doing just to exercise their rights? My Uncle lost a day's earnings, which does have a big impact for a taxi driver and to think he didn't even get what he came for. But  he says "my problem is small compared to other people, there were even pregnant women on queue and mothers breastfeeding their babies!" Could you even begin to imagine how it is for them? Why do we have to fight for even the most fundamental of our rights? 

Our rights remain a luxury, manipulated by a few. This may be a minor election but as for my Uncle he says he gives up on registering, one less voter who could evict change, one less person who is exercising his right to vote.

but who knows, maybe we'll get lucky in 2016.