Manila Bulletin, COMELEC host UST leg of University Forum on Elections

Unknown 11:06 PM

In line with the upcoming national elections on May 9, the Manila Bulletin and the Commission on Elections hosted the UST leg of “University Forum on Elections 2016” last April 14, 2016, at the Buenaventura G. Paredes, O.P. Building. With the slogan “Be fully informed”, the forum encouraged the young voters, especially the first timers, to discern the candidates and to also know the new method of voting.

Ms. Josephine Acacio of COMELEC introduced the Vote Counting Machine (VCM) that will replace the Precinct Count Optical Scanner Machine (PCOS) in the voting venues. Acacio discussed its features and said that it was more efficient than the PCOS machine. To test-drive its efficiency and at the same time have a preview of the new voting system, Thomasians participated in the demonstration of the VCM. Volunteers filled out a sample ballot and inserted it to the VCM. After that, the machine printed out a receipt that contained the summary details of the ballot. After going through the receipt, Voters, then, were encouraged to slip it in a drop box. COMELEC prohibits the taking out of the receipts from the precincts.

Voters’s Education Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) Director Dr. Arvin Serrano said there were three kinds of mentality that one should avoid:

1) The “Lesser of Evil” mentality wherein one draws a hasty generalization that all politicians are not good.

2. The “Chance Mentality” or the “Bahala na” where one votes for the sake of voting without discerning what he/she wants to lead, and

3) The tendency to vote without conviction and to base his/her choice from other’s preferences.

Serrano noted that poverty and ignorance were reasons for selling one’s vote, and as well as desensitization toward politics since the Filipinos experienced such mishaps for quite some time that, in turn, they lose their concern. Encouraging the first timers to vote wisely, Serrano also stated that this coming election was for the younger generation.

According to Acacio, “Voting is a right and privilege; and in voting, we stand equal. No one is rich, no one is disabled, and educated,” Manila Bulletin Technology News Assistant Editor Edgardo Hilario discussed the responsible usage of Social Media, urging the Thomasians to examine everything—from blogs to news articles—they find in the Internet before believing.