election volunteer

at the mass, we have been reading calls for more election volunteers through the parish pastoral council for responsible voting.

im reminded of the time i volunteered for namfrel way back in 1986, that fateful election. the streets were either red, blue and white for Marcos and KBL party, and yellow for Cory. in my last year at the university, i was feeling particularly political at that time. everybody was. i remember the disgust at seeing red white and blue and all who advocated them. worse was when id hear comments from undecided voters who were considering to still vote for marcos. their argument: definitely intelligent, knows how to run the country, will amend his ways now that he is aware of the sentiment of the people for change. arrggh. all that intelligence went to milking the coffers dry.

i was so pro-cory. i knew i had to safeguard that ballot. so i volunteered early on as namfrel. i attended the briefings and enjoyed how all these different people (housewives, students, professionals) were all there for the common cause of guarding the ballot.

and during the miting de avance, record numbers (millions i recall) actually attended.

i reported early on election day, and was assigned the precinct where eventually, i would cast my vote. i stayed the whole day and until 10pm. my precinct was quite uneventful. there was no doubtful voter I had to challenge. everything seemed in order. by the afternoon, i was chummy with the teachers who were really so tired during the counting.

aside from actually supervising the giving of the ballot, the recording, etc, i would even be a runner for food and snacks, which i shared with the others in the room.

i left the precinct pretty late, but not as late as some other precincts. i felt relieved that i didnt have to do any challenging (i was actually afraid of being in that situation). and when i got home, it was monitoring the initial results.

im not as motivated this time to do any volunteering. it's time for the younger ones to do their share.

above is the only pic i had of that special day. you could still see the namfrel id hanging. weathered but retaining the memories when i actively participated in the electoral process.