Youth decisive in polls

By STEPHEN PAOLO C. BABAYEN-ON / RAFI Intern
April 25, 2013

CEBU CITY – Comprising 80 percent of the voting population, the Filipino youth can make a difference in the May 2013 elections and even shape the future of the country.

The April 20 episode of “Pagtuki”, the official radio program of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), tackled the youth’s role in achieving an accountable and transparent national and local elections.

“There’s so much that the youth can do, especially in choosing the future leaders of our country,” Erwin Chua Andaya, assistant secretary of the National Youth Commission (NYC)-Visayas said.

According to data gathered by the NYC in 2010, only one out of four youths want to participate in the elections and two out of five youths want to vote. Meanwhile, 90 percent of them believed that corruption is the number one reason why many Filipinos remain poor.

“The most important thing to do is to give them the right information and make known to them that their votes really count,” Andaya added, stressing the need for young Filipinos already qualified to vote to register.

NYC launched an activity that will bring registration precincts to colleges and universities and the Precinct Count Optical Scanner (PCOS) machine to established malls to orient and encourage the youth to exercise their right to vote.

Mariejo Sevilla, Political Science student at the University of San Carlos, recognized the enthusiasm of today’s young people as a tool for social change, particularly in ensuring just and honest elections.

Sevilla cited ABS-CBN’s “Boto mo, Ipatrol mo” as a platform for the youth to be actively involved as voters. The Political Science Department of USC has partnered with ABS-CBN in promoting youth participation in the elections.

She also shared how, as a scholar of RAFI’s Young Minds Academy Season 6 (YMA), her team was assigned to make a research on the platforms of a specific running party and roll them out.

A recent initiative to educate voters is the Mega Cebu Candidates Fora, which started last April 10.

Carol Ballesteros, Mega Cebu communications and stakeholder relationship manager, explained that the Mega Cebu Candidates Fora is not a debate but a venue for candidates to lay down their respective platforms and stand on issues being addressed by the Mega Cebu project.

The said project is a 30-year master plan program and framework for a long term and collaborative planning and action towards a more sustainable city-region.

“Each candidate will present his or her programs and top priorities for Cebu and we will see if their plans are aligned to the vision of Mega Cebu for 2050,” Ballesteros remarked.

The Mega Cebu Candidates Fora will hold sessions on April 25 and 29 at the Cebu Cultural Center, Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City. This will highlight electoral candidates from Cebu City, fifth and sixth districts of Cebu Province, and Lapu-Lapu City.