We got to our precint at around 8:15am. It was pure chaos. There was a thick crowd of people outside the classroom where the PCOS machines, and no one could tell us clearly where we were supposed to line-up. There was one lone table with a laptop where we could find our precint, cluster, and voter number. Thank goodness there was no line there.After we got our numbers, we lined up. We stood there for almost three hours before we finally reached the door of the classroom. It was very very hot and there were people trying to cut the line. With the old voting system before, the ratio was one classroom per precint. This time, around 5 precints were combined per classroom which contained one PCOS machine each. Plus, they let only ten people enter to vote at any given time. You can pretty much imagine the crowd.
I voted in Caloocan City. Here are some observations and experiences:
- The person in charge of the room I was supposed to vote in was an idiot. Initially, he would let ONLY senior citizens in the classroom since they were supposed to be given priority. What about us non-senior citizens? He kept saying "Pag naubos na ang mga senior citizens kayo naman," (When the all the seniors are done voting, you'll get your turn,"). But the seniors kept pouring in. So after more than an hour of letting ONLY senior citizens vote, my sister goes up to complain and suggest they at least change the system to accommodate 5 seniors and 5 regular people per batch instead of 10 seniors per batch.
- There were no clear lines for the precints and clusters. When I asked the marshalls where I should line up they vaguely pointed to an area where there were layers of people and three different lines all converging in the end to a single classroom.
- The school became one gigantic trash can. Since the school I voted at was located in a slum area, most of the people who were voting there were squatters who threw things on the floor indiscriminately. I could not even see the floor anymore since it was covered with discarded sample ballots, food wrappers, empty plastic bottles, and other trash. Apparently, no lesson learned from Ondoy. Take note that these are the same people who'll come crying to you when the next disaster hits.
- Something's amiss with the whole registration system. My younger brother, who had already voted in the last election, was denied the right to vote because his name was not on the master list.
- When I was voting, my ballot was placed in a long folder that resembled the hundreds of long folders that I see in National Bookstore which cost less than P20 each. Are these supposed to be the freaking P380 secrecy folders?
I was finally done voting by 11:15am, three hours after I got there. That afternoon I went straight to Krispy Kreme and claimed my free Orange You Glad Chiller.
During the time when the line was unmoving, I was thinking of giving up and just going home. But I was already there and my candidates need my vote, so despite standing in the same spot for two hours, I waited with my siblings, aunt, and cousins. My presidential bet may not have won, but at least I was able to give my support and make my vote count.
I regret not being able to take photos because I was advised that cellphones were not allowed and I wasn't sure if I could bring a camera inside the school.
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