The zombies are back

Cong  Corrales

“LIKE a horde of zombies, last-minute voteregistrants dogged election workers at the mall, clawing at the window panes as they scrambled to get their biometrics validated or get registered for the first time here in the early hours of Saturday, the last day for voters’ registration and biometrics validation.”

I wrote that news article lede two years ago. It is not surprising that we witnessed the exact same thing on Saturday, the last day of voters’ registration for the October Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

This has been a recurring phenomena as far as I can care to remember.

The Commission on Elections’ initiative to conduct satellite registrations in far-flung villages only did a fraction of improvement. I remember my son, who works with the commission’s city office, going out of the house early and coming home late in the evening because of the satellite registrations in hinterland barangays in the city. When we do get the chance to talk, he’d tell me their satellite registration in the boondocks was “gilangaw.”

Even Comelec commissioner Luie Guia posted on his Facebook wall last week that he “is afraid that applicants for registration will again crowd Comelec offices on the last day, April 29.”

I understand Guia’s concern because I have witnessed these last-minute registrations for far too many times. Emotions would run high as these last-minute registrants jockey for priority numbers. Worse, they almost always end up insulting the commission’s employees.

I remember election assistant Lailani Nazi almost losing her cool blurting: “Where were they when we visited their barangays?” She opined then that this phenomena is “the perfect reflection of the state of our society.”

So, is it procrastination that ills these voteregistrants?

Methinks it is not procrastination, laziness or the seemingly apathetic attitude towards elections. I believe these people know how important elections are. Why, it’s the country’s national pastime–it’s almost like a cottage industry.

These people register late because their patrons and benefactors release their budgets late. Last-minute registrants know this is moment when their patrons and benefactors “need” them. It is the only occasion where the roles are reversed because after every election, they know they will see the politicos again in the next election season.

Of course, no selfespecting politico will release funds until they are sure who will vote for them. It is the old-time “padrino system” that is at work here.

These last-minute registrants were just waiting for their “tiam-tiam.” So, cut them some slack. Pfft.