Voted!

This day holds a historical event in the Philippines - the first ever automated elections. Even if I was down with colds, cough and fever, I coerced myself to get up, go out there, and cast my vote.

I was watching TV in the morning. The news revealed nothing but negativity - malfunctions here, anomalies there, etc. I thought I was gonna wait for four hours before I could vote.

My bro and I went to the precinct with our gear - my camera, a bottle of water, and my two cellphones. Surprisingly, when we got there, there was no line for our polling precinct. We waited for a few seconds then we were ushered in. Ten minutes later, I was done shading. I inserted the ballot into the machine that looked like a trash bin but I hope it isn't so. Then the guy marked my nail with an indellible ink. Done.

While shading, I remember being conscious of my shading style. Board exams require me to shade as dark as I can. This time, I shaded lightly, I was afraid the ink would go through the other side of the ballot. And I kept counting my senators over and over again. Just being sure. :)

It's my first time to vote and I'm actually excited. Despite the insanity all over the Philippines, I realized I'm actually hopeful of how my vote would affect the nation in the coming years.

Many years from now, when automated elections would be obsolete, I hope I might live to tell the story of this day.