Comelec to reactivate online info drive for 2010

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has reactivated its on-line information campaign to encourage voters to register for the 2010 presidential polls.

In a statement posted on its website, Comelec’s Education and Information Division (EID) said its voter education website, bagongbotante.com, has been revived to feature “informative articles and lots of downloadable materials that voter educators could use.”

The Comelec introduced the website during the 2007 elections.

“During the canvassing, results updates were regularly posted on the site,” EID claimed.

“Overall, it was fairly successful... And so, there’s a lot of motivation to put up the site again. But this time, instead of using a (dot)com, we’ve gone (dot)ph. It just seemed more right, especially considering we weren’t selling anything,” EID said.

In his entries in the blog, Comelec spokesman and EID director James Jimenez underscored the importance for voters to register.

“Democracy is a crazy messy system. But it works. Unfortunately, it is also a fragile thing that is easily broken, beat up, and lost. So it needs a lot of help to keep it going. Voting is the booster shot that increases a democracy’s immunity to those things that might end up giving it a fatal sickness – corruption, incompetence, and tyranny,” he said.

He added that voters must exercise their right to vote to be able to help shape the government.

“If you don’t vote, then you’re a classic conformist. You go along with everyone else’s choice, in effect letting them do your thinking for you… So if you find a good candidate, make sure you’re ready to hire him. Register to vote,” Jimenez said.  – Sheila Crisostomo