By Claudette Guevara, Secretary General, Democracy Watch Philippines

originally published in Business World May 14, 2019

When I think of Filipinos who suffer from poverty, hunger, and inequality, the more I value my democratic duty to vote and have my will as a Filipino be counted thru the ballot. Free elections are the living spirit of all democracies. Clean and honest elections bestow the people’s trust to legitimately govern and serve the interest of the people.

We exercised this power when we went out to vote. No matter our status in life, every citizen has the same power to choose the leaders and the right to demand the highest levels of performance and integrity.

The vote I contributed last Monday is for the continuing fight for equal civil rights, justice, access to health, education, and jobs for every Filipino. As a taxpayer, I believe these social services and rights should be given to all Filipinos. It is important to remember that this country will only be strong if all children are provided with quality education and opportunities for a productive and prosperous life.

Democracy Watch challenges the newly elected officials of government to turn their advocacies and campaign promises into concrete actions, meaningful projects and developmental policy reforms that will spark positive change in our country. Let them be reminded that their mandate must be to serve the interest of the people and not the interest of their political sponsors.

Moving forward, the public must remain vigilant and attentive to the delivery of public service of the Duterte administration in the last half of his term, and of the newly elected officials especially on their advocacies. The responsibility and participation of civil society goes beyond elections and voting. We must hold our officials accountable for every government resource and every act in the execution of their duties. We must also hold them accountable for the power we have vested in them to yield only positive results that would benefit the country.

There is much room for improvement in our election process. Comelec must also be able to explain, extensively and openly, the delays that occurred during the unofficial tally. The public’s anticipation of the fast posting of election results was disrupted by technical issues. This unfortunate glitch has stirred valid concerns on the capacity of the mandated electoral body of the country.