The Philippine Online Chronicles

Voter turnout was generally good, with hordes of young people, middle-aged couples and senior citizens trooping to their respective precincts.

At the entrance of the school, we were greeted by supporters of party list groups and local candidates, distributing sample ballots, calendars and hand fans. It appears that Liberal Party had a well-funded machinery judging from the number of supporters they had and the quality of materials they were distributing. No Villar and other presidentiable supporters in sight, and only a few Erap supporters.

Supporters distributing campaign materials.

The group and the campaign materials they are distributing.

Voters while waiting to get inside the holding area.

Majority of the voters appeared to be enthusiastic as they brave the heat, confusion and the terrain of the building just to exercise their right to vote, though some also went home frustrated and angry. We checked in at about 7 a.m., entered our precinct by 11:00 AM and successfully cast our vote 30 minutes after. There were occasions when tempers rise due to slow movement of line. Allegedly, the queue was not followed by some voters, who used their friends inside the precinct to vote ahead of the rest. Police later came in to put order and calm the voters.

What frustrated voters were the two lines they had to endure, first the holding area where they waited to get their number before heading to their precinct, then another line to submit their number to BEI, and another wait before they were called and allowed entry to the precinct. No ID no entry (well almost).

Voters checking the location of their “holding area” and “precinct”.

Holding area for our precinct.

Crowd outside the holding area.

Line outside holding area.

The crowd outside our precinct before police came to put everything in order.

Senior citizens, persons with disablilities and pregnant/expectant mothers were prioritized, which was fine with me.

No reported malfunction of PCOS machine was observed; process inside the precinct was orderly but slow.