TIME AND AGAIN, we have had the issue thrown back at our face: If we have so many complaints about our politicians, why do we keep electing them into office?
But there is a corollary question here as well: If we have so many complaints about our politicians, then why is it that so many of us do not even bother to cast our vote? It’s a startling but valid question for a country that, two decades ago, was still trapped in a dictatorship.
Data from the Commission on Elections show that a large number of Filipinos do not bother to go to the voting precincts. This, even though elections have always been described as the favorite past time of Filipinos. Elections in the Philippines, after all, are a sort of fiesta, where democracy dictates that even clowns and jesters can run for public office. Even intelligent clowns.
So now our Data a Day question:
On the average, how many registered Filipinos bother to go out and vote?
For a quick answer to that question, just visit our Data a Day website, or go to the PCIJ’s MoneyPolitics Online site.