Voter. Botante. Mamamayan.

It’s official! I’ll be voting for the future public officials this upcoming May 2007 senatorial elections. My Voters’ registration story is a tale of I came, I saw, I conquered.

Two days. Two long days of my life I allotted to be an official voter. The Tarlac City Hall became my tambayan for two days. And random names of Tarlaqueños announced thru a poor sound system were the music to my ears. On my second day waiting (luckily, not waiting in vain), I was amused by the name “Luzon Island Beltran.” Wow. I wonder if his/her siblings are named Visayas and Mindanao Island. Hehe. Talk about finding humor amidst the boredom.

The long lines in the city hall were due to 1) the outpour of last minute registrants (like me) 2) lack of government employees due to budget deficit which hinders more employment 3) lack of facilities (there is only one computer available for the computerized registration).

For those in power and those who wish to gain power: We went under painstaking process to be citizens worthy of deciding tbe future of the nation. And we will undergo more rigorous process of choosing who to elect. Please, don’t rig our votes. Don’t put all our efforts to waste. And for those newly-registered: Kudos! We all came, saw, and conquered the arduous process. May we all be responsible voters. As the man who finished his registration next to me said, this calls for a Victory Party!