By: Irene Rustia
PAREF Rosehill auxiliary staff attended Boto Para Sa Pagbabago, a voter’s education seminar conducted by Grade 12 HUMSS students, last April 7.
The seminar took place in the Multi-purpose Hall and was live-streamed on a private Facebook group for Rosehill auxiliary staff only.
HUMSS students hosted the conference as a performance task for two of their classes taught by Ms. Wong: Philippine Politics and Governance, and Community Engagement.
Their goal was to share their learnings about the Philippine government and discuss them with the local community.
The students divided the seminar into three talks: firstly, an introduction to politics with a brief overview of the Philippines as a liberal democracy and the branches of its government; secondly, the process and instructions for the upcoming elections; and finally, Filipino citizenship, wherein they discussed their rights and freedom, as well as the relevance of voting as Filipino citizens.
During a filler activity, members of staff communicated some of the challenges they have encountered and ways they think the government can aid them.
“Iba-iba ‘yung rate ng mga sweldo ng mga tao. Sana [mapagtuunan] ng pansin ng gobyerno. Mag-adjust lang naman nang kaunti. Ang laki naman ng diperensya, parehas lang naman pamasahe, pagkain. Lahat naman ay pare-parehas, bakit yung sweldo hindi,” one of them expressed regarding the issue of income inequality.
The last activity encouraged each participant to share a pledge regarding voting rights. Several of them promised to vote wisely and emphasized how they would not allow aspiring leaders to purchase their votes.
After the seminar, the staff members answered a printed evaluation form. One of them shared that the most important lesson she gained was, “mag-isip [nang] maayos at mabuti, wag mag vote buying kundi vote wisely, kung anong nasa puso natin.”
In addition, the mini-conference also served as a learning experience for the students-organizers and speakers themselves.
“I learned about their own problems from the places they live in (e.g., the gap in the cost of living/money). It also didn’t surprise me when none of them were satisfied with the performance of the current government,” HUMSS student Yzabele Loyola shared.
“It truly reflects on the failure of the government to meet the needs of the whole country,” she added.
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