ABS CBN's latest news said the 1.69 million registered Filipinos started casting their votes last April 10th for the overseas absentee voting (OAV). Proud to say that I registered as an absentee voter in 2016.
My ballot arrived at my new address.
Kudos to the Philippine Embassy-Tokyo's Consular section.
In one of my meetings, one of our Japanese clients mentioned that he prefers to visit the country after the chaos of the elections. The Vietnamese businessperson we were with has never been to the Philippines, so he clarified some points.
🇻🇳: Are elections in the Philippines really chaotic?
🇯🇵: Yes!! Very noisy because of the candidates' songs...
🇵🇭: Ah, those are the jingles.
🇯🇵: And so many billboards with candidates faces.
🇵🇭: This time not only billboards, some even do murals on private properties, like the walls of buildings.
🇻🇳: Like paintings?
🇵🇭: You can say that. The moment the official list of the Philippines presidential candidates is released, the atmosphere becomes energetic and a little toxic as well.
🇻🇳: What do you mean by "toxic"?
🇵🇭: Well, let's just say that people root for their candidates strongly. In some cases, political conversations turn into debates, and sometimes end up in fights.
🇯🇵: Is that a bad thing? At least people are engaged, right?
🇵🇭: True! The voting turnout is quite big, compared to Japan.
🇯🇵: Exactly! A lot of people in Japan don't like to discuss politics.
🇻🇳: Both of you are lucky! 😧
🇯🇵🇵🇭: Huh?! 🤔
🇻🇳: At least you can vote!
And just like that, we understood what he meant.
So, I vote since I want to exercise my right to suffrage.
I am lucky because I didn't have to demonstrate to have that right; I was born with it.
I am fortunate that I didn't have to travel far; I could post my ballot.
Thus, I have no reason not to vote.
#PHVote #WeDecide #righttosuffrage #ThisIsDemocracy #Election2022 #MyJapanLife #MylesJapanLife #VoteWisely
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