Why Pinoys are overzealous to register as voters

UP NORTH

Jun R. Guiang

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte --It will be a sad story to remember in the history of Comelec registration of voters about the reported stampede due to unruly crowd that marred the said event last July 31, 2013. In Metro Manila and nearby major cities, a mammoth crowd of registrants flocked in Comelec offices to beat the July 31, 2013 deadline. National television footages showed  a sea of humanity that swelled in the last day of poll registration in Manila and Quezon City.

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There were reports of unruly crowd due to the long queue of people who wanted to register as voters for the forthcoming barangay (village) and Sanggunian Kabataan (youth) elections in October this year. At the height of the registration period, the crowd (packed like canned sardines at the gate of the registration centers) turned rowdy, yelling and pushing each other to get in that led to confusion and  stampede. Police could hardly control the mob. Several victims were reportedly hurt. Some women registrants collapsed and carried in stretchers by first-aid rescuers  due to dizziness and exhaustion. It may  be noted that most of these registrants belong to the masses such as urban settlers, farmers, fishermen, laborers, housewives and jobless people.

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In Laoag City, the Comelec office also reported a queue of late registrants till night, said lawyer John Paul Martin, city election registrar. Many students  even excused themselves from their schools in an effort to register as new voters. Others skipped lunch as they waited for their turn to go inside the registration room. As special priority registrants, some pregnant mothers and senior citizens were also seen sitting in discomfort at the waiting lobby of the city hall. The weary registrants eased the pang of hunger by buying snack food from ambulant vendors.

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National Comelec officials blamed the bad practice of many fellow Filipinos who were fond of beating the deadline last July 31. Similar queueing is true whenever tax payers beat the BIR deadline of annual filing income tax returns. In schools, late enrolees also fall in line because students are fond of rush hours.  Procrastination.Manana habit.Mamaya na lang. Bukasna lang. Postpone it for tomorrow. That's our countrymen's culture, Filipino-style.

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Be that as it may, there's a wild speculation on why people were overzealous in getting registered as election voters last July 31 deadline. The registrants'  allegation that they want to exercise their constitutional right of suffrage is only secondary to the main reason of their extreme desire to become registered voters.

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Critics surmised that the masses were lured to register because the voters believed that politicians' money will again flow in every household in the forthcoming village and youth elections. No doubt, everybody was happy during the  last May 13 national and local elections except for the intellectual voters who shunned politicians' money.