At long last, after forty (40) years of existence and twenty two (22) years as a legal-aged citizen, I am finally a registered voter! And why did it take me so long??? Well, to tell you frankly there are just a myriad of reasons – at first when I just turned 18 and thereabouts, our family was always changing residences – I remember turning 18 at Matapat at Sikatuna Village but our place there was quite small and so the next year, we moved to Project 7. Then, I guess the fact that we changed residences so often made me unable to establish residency anywhere that would allow me to register in that particular place to vote!
After Paranaque, I moved in with the hubby and it heralded another round of moving in and out of just too many places until we finally settled down in 2000 at San Jose del Monte, Bulacan. By then, you would probably ask, why did I still remain unregistered when in fact, one of my sons registered to be able to vote for the SK. But I decided not to because I figured if I would go out and vote, I would much rather have it at the same place as the hubby so we could go vote together. It would be quite difficult for me to stay here at SJDM while he goes home to vote in his hometown. And so I waited until the right time came when I could register as a voter in Pampanga. But many elections came and went but almost always their registration period is only for Mondays to Fridays and I couldn’t very well absent myself from work just to register and so my waiting continued. I thought I would end up not being able to exercise my right to suffrage but at long last the long wait is over! Today, my brother-in-law texted that they’re having a special registration for new voters and so I would finally get my chance!
It was mid-afternoon already when we finally got to the barangay hall to register. I went with the hubby and a niece who would turn eighteen next month. When my turn came, the guy looked at me weirdly and asked? New voter? And I said yes, I just turned 18!!! So I explained a bit of my history and after some time he seemed to believe me. Anyway, I told him he could go and check the records at Comelec and he would see I have never been registered in my life. And so in just a little like thirty minutes – I AM NOW A REGISTERED VOTER! Now all I have to wait for now is for the next elections to come around and I would soon be able to see what a voting precinct looks like!
[photo from clipart]
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