Kaya Natin alarmed over low voter registrants for 2010 polls

CABANATUAN CITY , Philippines – Stalwarts of Kaya Natin!, a movement for transparency, good governance and ethical leadership, have expressed alarm over the very low number of voter registrants, with only 25 percent of potential voters officially registered for the 2010 elections.

Kaya Natin! lead convenor and national coordinator Harvey Keh said of the eight million new voters who are qualified to vote in 2010, only two million have been registered, indicating a seeming lack of interest among youths in the coming political exercise.

“This is alarming because the youth votes, or those in the 18-40 age bracket comprise 60 percent of the voting block, enough to elect a new president in 2010,” he said.

Keh, along with officials of Kaya Natin! made the revelation during the kick-off ceremony for the movement’s “Lakad sa Pagbabago” Saturday at the College of the Immaculate Conception grounds here. Some 6,000 participants composed of priests and lay leaders, parishioners and volunteers marched from the CIC to the Araullo University here to encourage young people to go out and vote and support its crusade for good governance.   

Fr. Jeff Alarilla, director of the youth commission of the Diocese of Cabanatuan, said that in the 2007 elections, many young people in the province failed to cast their votes. “Either they don’t care or they don’t know,” he said.

At least 30 civic organizations from a cross-section of society were mobilized for the march, the third leg of the activity which kicked off on Aug. 2 in Ateneo and on Aug. 15 in Bulacan. The fourth leg is set on Sept. 12 in Naga City.

Keh said that aside from registration, another cause for concern is to see to it that leaders with good track record are elected into office.

He said this is why he is pushing for the candidacy of San Isidro Mayor Sonia Lorenzo as their anointed bet for governor. “If Mayor Lorenzo decides to run, we at Kaya Natin! will definitely support her,” he said.

He said the political success stories of Governors Ed Panlilio of Pampanga and Grace Padaca of Isabela could happen in the province where there is a need for a “Third Force” because of warring politicians. “The Panlilio and Padaca phenomena can be replicated in Nueva Ecija. But the clamor has to start from the people. It has to come from the bottom,” he said.

Lorenzo, whose innovative programs earned a citation from Harvard University, was non-committal about Keh’s endorsement, saying her main concern at the moment is the development agenda she laid out for her town. She said, however, that she is willing to support whoever is chosen by the movement,” she said.