THE FOURTH installment of the Citizen Election Engagement Forum (CEEF) Series highlighted the role of the youth in the upcoming 2016 national elections.
The forum was hosted by the Ateneo Task Force (ATF) and was held at the Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall Auditorium on September 18.
The ATF is the university’s official student mobilization for the national elections. Its CEEF series is part of its second phase of providing voters’ education for Ateneans.
In his opening remarks, Office of Student Activities (OSA) Director Christopher Castillo emphasized that “[the youth’s] vote does matter.”
He said that the youth’s involvement in the electoral process will generate long-run effects for the country.
Castillo added that “we are in a situation where the choices you will make and the discussions you will have will have an impact.”
National context
Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Political Officer Karlo Abadines contextualized the upcoming elections in light of the country’s current state.
He mentioned that economic growth under President Benigno Aquino III’s administration improved.
Abadines added that “the Aquino administration created enough confidence from the international community to attract investments.”
However, he said that the country’s economic growth was “mostly for the elite.”
Abadines noted how the poverty thresholds per region remained significantly low, citing that the highest threshold was that of the National Capital Region at Php 20,168 per year or Php 55 per day.
In addition, Abadines said that while the industry and services sectors of the country have experienced growth, the agricultural sector continues to decline.
He further said that the next Philippine president should give consideration to marginalized sectors which do not experience the supposed economic growth.
“How can we have leaders who don’t even know the problems of farmers, fisher folk, indigenous people, laborers?” Abadines said.
Role of the youth
The importance of the youth’s involvement in the 2016 elections was stressed by Commission on Elections Chairman (COMELEC) Andres Bautista.
The COMELEC is the government agency that enforces electoral regulations and laws of conduct.
According to Bautista, “[the youth] literally have it within [their] power to dictate the outcome of national elections.”
He added that the youth “should be the ones most concerned with the emerging needs of the country and our people.”
Moreover, Bautista said the most important reason for the youth’s participation in the elections is that they “are impatient for change.”
He called on the youth to channel their impatience to action and to “show everyone that you are no longer spectators to change.”
Bautista added that the youth should “study [national] issues and make well-formulated positions on them.”
#AteneoAsksComelec
The event’s open forum featured Bautista answering election-related queries from several Ateneans.
Economics senior Miggoy Cordero brought up how past presidents from Fidel Ramos up to Aquino all won with a minority vote. He asked whether the electoral system should be modified to have a preliminary screening prior to the main elections.
Bautista replied “yes” and said that “what we should do is have a first election and then get the top two [candidates].”
Bautista added that he himself is a proponent for charter change as “our ’87 constitution does not reflect many of the current realities [in the electoral process].”
Meanwhile, ATF Monitoring and Evaluation Head Marisse Galera inquired regarding the precinct count optical scan machines’ developers.
In response, Bautista said that COMELEC would have gone with a local developer, but time constraints pushed them to reuse the old machines from the 2010 and 2013 elections.
He emphasized that the COMELEC had to rush as the elections were eight months away.
Baustisa added that “we cannot experiment with our democracy. If our elections fail, there’s so much at stake.”
On the other hand, political science senior Jopi Esquivias asked “how we can hold [candidates] accountable for the promises they made in the elections.”
In a joking response, Bautista likened the presidential candidates to courtiers who “promise you the moon and stars.”
In light of this, Bautista emphasized that voters should be more critical in their selection process as today “most Filipinos still vote based on personality and gut feel.”
Bautista added that to better screen the presidential candidates, COMELEC will host three presidential debates en route to election day—one in Luzon, one in Visayas, and one in Mindanao.
