Hey zoomer, are you discouraged from registering as a voter in #Halalan2022 because it’s “hopeless” anyway? Do you think that your vote won’t end up making a difference in the big picture?
Honestly, I’ve been there. Back in 2016, I remember just having turned 18 years old but choosing not to register as a voter. I told myself: “what’s my one vote going to do?”
But after educating myself and hacking my brain a bit, I knew that it was imperative for me to vote in the upcoming elections. Here are some ways I convinced myself to register for the next presidential election which I hope can help you or your friends think differently too.
I’m writing this as I grieve over the death of the ABS-CBN franchise which has robbed over 11,000 people of their jobs in the middle of a pandemic. More than that, this move has shown that press freedom in the Philippines is merely an illusion.
And an attack to press freedom is an attack to our personal freedom.
Unfortunately, this has only been one of many questionable decisions that has greatly affected us personally, mentally, and emotionally. The past four years have been exhausting to say the least.
But more than being tired, we are furious.
Now is always the best time to express frustration and take action. But if all our efforts still fall on deaf ears, we have a Hail Mary waiting in our back pocket: #Halalan2022.
If registering as a voter was as easy as entering a 6-digit PIN code, then would you have done it already even if you knew there was no hope of a good candidate winning?
Let’s say you love pineapples on your pizza. Nay, you are passionate about them. Then you see a Twitter poll asking you which one is the superior option: pizza with pineapples or pizza without pineapples.
Before you even look at the results, you already know pizza without pineapples is gonna win in a landslide. But you’re still gonna vote for the option with pineapples anyway, right?
Why did you vote in that poll even if you knew the option you were going to choose would lose? Because all you literally had to do was tap your screen.
Now let’s go back to the elections: why can’t you register to vote even if you knew that a trapo was gonna win anyway?
If you answered that you were going to vote in the hypothetical Twitter poll above, but still don’t want to vote in the presidential election because it’s hopeless, then that’s just you being lazy.
Hopelessness is just laziness at work. Don’t hide behind the “it’s hopeless” excuse because voting is the hope that we need to change things around here.
Voting in #Halalan2022 is honestly the bare minimum that you can do to make an actual difference in how the country is run. While tweeting hashtags is okay, it’s not going to do much in the bigger picture.
This is a once every six years opportunity that we can’t pass up. Registering to vote literally took me just an hour, and voting will take you less than a day to complete.
Imagine taking less than 24 hours off to do something meaningful that will affect you.
A presidential term in the Philippines is six years, which is equivalent to 52,560 hours. When we do the math, the whole voting process is just 0.0005% of that. Your self-care day can wait.
Protect yourself from hearing “don’t complain, you didn’t even vote” the next years. As someone who didn’t vote in the 2016 presidential election, I got this from my family a lot every time I complained about the government.
And honestly, they do have a point. I mean I hated hearing it, but it was true to an extent. Look, every Filipino citizen has a right to complain but you can’t fault people for getting mad over your complaining when you didn’t even do the bare minimum!
Do you know what stopped them from saying this to me? When I registered for #Halalan2022.
This is a card that boomers like to pull out when young people complain, so please, even if it’s just out of spite and pride, register to vote!
This is such a bad reason to register but I think it needs to be said as a warning. Unfortunately, cancel culture is not going to end soon. You will get a lot of judgmental shade thrown against you if you don’t vote.
Then there’s also the self-hate, too.
I’ve experienced being called out by my friends firsthand about it. The disappointment in their faces when I reveal this fact is something that I just can’t turn a blind eye to. The guilt also eats me up knowing that I could’ve done something to help make the country a better place for other people.
Foolish 18-year old me not giving a damn about the world.
If you’re still indifferent about what’s going on in the country, do yourself a favor and still register to vote. Because one day, you are going to care about politics and you’ll end up writing an article telling people how much you regret not voting before.
Just look at Facebook and Twitter. Not a day passes by where your timeline isn’t filled with political posts and opinions from your friends. Hell, even Instagram isn’t safe anymore.
And that’s a good thing.
Even the most indifferent people in your circle are being so vocal about national issues while encouraging people to vote in #Halalan2022. If this tells you anything, it’s that you are not alone. If your friends are finally speaking out, then they’re most likely taking their anger to the voting booths too.
Don’t get left behind.
But even if they’re not registered as a voter, then it would be extremely easy to convince them to. The anger is there; they just need a push that you yourself can give them.
Aren’t you just a little bit inspired by a politics-filled timeline? I know I am.
Seeing so many young zoomers speak out may just give you that dose of hope to convince yourself that your vote isn’t useless. Because we are voting with you.
Zoomers, this is your reminder to register as a voter for #Halalan2022. They have suspended registration until August 31 because of coronavirus, but we’ll make sure to remind you when the time to register is near.
In the meantime, open your eyes and ears. This is how you convince yourself to register.
Then when you’re ready, use your voice to convince your friends and everyone you know. We have a country to save; its future is quite literally in our hands.
Also, registering is half the battle. Show up on voting day.
Even if we fail or something fishy affects results, at least you can tell yourself that you did something to try and change the system. And that thought is going to help you through the dark days.
Want a quick recap of the things the Philippines prioritized over the coronavirus pandemic? Click here. We also have more advice for zoomers like you! Don’t forget to follow us @ZoomersCornerPH on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Featured Image: cottonbro on Pexels
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