My Surprising Experience with Voter Registration

Yesterday, I decided to register as a voter in the city where I live. Honestly, I was feeling lazy because I always think the lines would be long and the wait would be tiring. I'm also quite impatient and get bored easily when I have to wait for a long time.

But yesterday, I decided to go to City Hall to register. As far as I know, the government agency's office hours are only until 4 PM.

I left the house around 3:30 PM, and while walking to City Hall, I thought I might not be accommodated anymore since they might be closing soon and there might still be a line.

When I got there, there was only one person ahead of me in line, a senior citizen. Of course, I cut in front of him! Haha! Just kidding. Haha!

Sometimes I like to insert jokes just to surprise the reader. Haha!

So there, I finished quickly, like really quickly. As I was heading home, there was even someone who came in last minute, but the Comelec employees still accommodated them.

I was just a bit disappointed because I thought voters would have an ID, but it turns out there isn't one. This small piece of paper is the only proof that you're a registered voter. I hope that next time there will be an ID, or at least link voter registration to the National ID.

The registration period ends on September 30, so if you're Filipino and reading this, go register.

Even if you don't want to vote or practice your right to vote, still register. Honestly, the reason I registered wasn't to exercise my voting rights.

In our city, there are many perks to being a registered voter. One of them is in health; a lot of expenses in the hospital are almost free if you're a registered voter.

It's proof that you're legitimately from that city and not just an outsider. I don't know about other cities, but that's what I've noticed in our city because one time I was asked if I was a taxpayer or a registered voter in the city.

So there, I finally completed the registration that I had been putting off for a long time, and it turned out to be quick.

There are many things we think will take a long time to process, like two months ago, I thought renewing my license would take a long time, but it was actually quick and easy.

For now, I'm happy because it's not like before when you'd often hear that government employees were slow. I can say that the processes here in the Philippines are faster now, but of course, I can't speak for other cities since I haven't tried processing papers there.