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Extending Voters’ Education to the Crucial Sectors
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from
NAMFREL Election Monitor Vol.3, No.2 |
by Joan Jamisolamin and Nestor M. Banuag, Jr.
(Chairperson), Volunteers, NAMFREL-CDO/Misamis
Oriental |
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| The sight of young people
carrying huge placards and walking around the public markets is
something that is not seen everyday, and indeed they drew the attention
of vendors, hawkers, buyers, passersby and commuters. They were NAMFREL
Volunteers encouraging people at the market to go out during election
day and conscientiously vote. This was a new arena where NAMFREL CDO-Mis.Or.
Chapter brought their voters’ education program (VEP) to. According to a
survey conducted by Xavier University, the vendors at the public markets
were one of the sectors which has a very low voters turnout. Reportedly,
many of the vendors prefer to go about their business of the day and
earn their daily income, than spend time in long lines during
the election. This situation points to a low appreciation of their right
to suffrage and a lack of interest to participate in the democratic
process of the selection of national and local leaders. |
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The CDO-Mis.Or.
Chapter of NAMFREL rose to the challenge to reach out and
quite literally bring the VEP into the streets, where most
of the masses are, representing a critical percentage of the
voting population and would certainly influence the outcome
of the voting results. NAMFREL Volunteers, mostly students,
conducted market visits in the Carmen and Cogon Public
Markets, visiting stall owners and distributing leaflets.
Their placards held simple messages, such as “Choose the
Right Candidates!,” “No to Vote-Buying!” and also provided
basic information, such as the time of voting, and reminders
on the voting process. The market visit was closely
coordinated with the City Philippine National Police, who
monitored the security of the volunteers. There were several
visits conducted by the young NAMFREL volunteers to Cogon
and Carmen Public Markets. |
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The CDO-Mis.Or. Chapter also conducted regular education
sessions with the students and with community partners.
Voters’ education sessions were conducted in Xavier
University, Capitol
University, Pilgrim Christian College and Lourdes
University, among others. This was organized in partnership
with the National Service Training Program Implementers,
Kagayanon for Good Governance (KGG) Youth, and the Central
Student
Government Office per school. Community sessions were held
at Tambo, Macasandig with the Nina Maria Learning Center
through its community members.
NAMFREL CDO-Mis.Or. trained and prepared volunteers to
facilitate and assist in these Voters’ Education activities.
The VEP is an important component in massively disseminating
new rules and procedures related to the automated polls.
The May 2013 Election was only the second time which the
Philippines conducted automated polls. A significant part of
the session was spent on explaining how the PCOS machine
works, and what the voters need to know to properly vote and
cast their ballots. The Voters’ Education sessions also
served as recruitment platform for the Chapter to invite
more volunteers for mobile pollwatching on election day. |
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