Priveledge, Right or Duty?

Privilege, Right or Duty?

Having recently moved to Davao City, I had no intentions of flying to Manila in May (and again in October) just to vote. I mean I could. But then that would mean I'm going to be voting for some officials that won't be directly affecting me and my family.

This is the last week for registration and all that jazz. So, I found my way to the Comelec (short for Commission on Elections) center. I asked if I could request change my information and after three and a half hours in the first queue, I was given the form to fill out to make my request. (Yay!!!)

After another 30 minutes (yup, just 30 minutes this time), my form was all filled out and approved.

The last step was the data capture (where they encode all my information), biometrics (they took some fingerprints) and photo taking for the voter's id. I didn't have the energy to get in line again, so I decided to go back the next day for that last step.

Yesterday, when I got off work at 7am (yes, I work nights), I freshened up then headed back to the Comelec center. I arrived a few minutes before opening. They promptly started letting people in at 8 o'clock. I was the first person in line for the last step. And in five minutes, I was done!

My last post, I said it was official, I'm a resident of Davao.

As of yesterday, I'm a voting resident of Davao.

During the initial three and a half hour wait, my reading was put to a halt when my battery reached 20%. I didn't think to pack the powerbank that morning.

With nothing to do, my mind wandered. I got to asking "is voting a priviledge, a right or a duty?" 


Maybe I'll share my thoughts in later posts (or not).