Seminars on voters’ education were conducted for the women’s organizations in April 2022 as the May 2022 national and local elections draw near.
Staff members of the Women’s Resource Center of Visayas, Inc. (WRCV) conducted the seminars. They pointed out that in order to maintain free and honest election, it should not be tainted with fraud, rigging, and violence and should produce a legitimate result. They said that voters have to be particular about overvoting which means that they should not vote for more candidates than what are allowed, e.g., only one president, one vice-president, 12 senators, and one Partylist, congressman, governor, vice-governor, mayor, and vice-mayor, otherwise, their votes will be rendered invalid. It was also stressed that the legitimacy of the next government resides in the honest and free exercise of the people’s right to suffrage.
The resource persons also cited some statistics that there are more women voters than men in the Philippines so that women have a crucial say in electing candidates who are pro-women and banner their interests. They also pointed out that there is a need for more women to run for government positions since men still dominate the political field until the present. The resource persons also pointed out that the most powerful safeguard against election fraud is the awareness and vigilance of every voter. We should all use our conscience to choose the right leaders, to be informed of the issues, platforms, performance records, competence, lifestyle of the candidates, and to choose candidates who show their commitment to integrate, foremost, the interests and welfare of the citizens in their program of government, including the interests of the women sector.
