Elections in the Philippines last week were anticipated with a mixture of hope and tension.

The previous elections in 2004 had been marred by violence, corruption and loss of life. With the Philippines recently being named as Asia’s most corrupt country, there were fears of a repeat performance.

In the leadup to the May 14 election date, World Vision worked with children and their communities to spread the word that “responsible people elect responsible leaders.”

Maria Jenneriza, 16 years old, was among the World Vision sponsored children that called on the Filipino people to responsibly exercise their right to vote.

“We pray that the elections will be orderly and that people will not cheat,” she said.

World Vision sponsored children also presented a child-focussed position statement on the upcoming elections. As well as calling for credible, peaceful and honest elections, they asked the aspirant leaders, incumbent leaders, their parents, and all Filipinos to collectively create a child-friendly nation.

“We firmly believe that a nation for us [children], is a nation for all!” the position statement read.

Karlo, 16, a sponsored child from Quezon City, asked that young people voting for the first time would exercise their new right honestly.

For Josephine, 16, the priority for any government was social change. New leaders, she said, “should think of the important needs of our country – jobs, health, education and housing.” 

Voter's education pays off 

Involving the children was part of a larger strategy to reach communities across the Philippines.

“World Vision joined the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in the conduct of Voter’s Education in all our 53 Area Development Programmes (ADPs) in 34 provinces,” explains World Vision Advocacy and Communications Director Filomena Portales.  “Because of our grassroots spread, the voter’s education that we conducted reached almost 50% of the provinces across the country.”

In a country where the majority of people are living in extreme poverty, political analysts have claimed that senatorial candidates spend an average of 100-200 million pesos each for their electoral campaign, around 200 times more than their monthly reported salaries.

In the leadup to the current elections, around 120 people were killed. One polling booth, a classroom in Batangas province, was torched on election day, resulting in the death of two teachers who had been inside counting ballot papers.

But overall, raising awareness of fair election practice seems to have helped to encourage the participation of voters, keen to see systems change in their nation. While results may not be finalized for up to a month, there has been a swing away from “popular” candidates in favour of those who presented strong track records and leadership abilities.

“We are pleased with the results of the election,” says Filomena. “This was made possible by the initiatives of the Church, civil society, media, and academia, particularly the information technology schools, in ensuring a clean, honest and credible election.”

World Vision intends to continue Voter’s Education and child participation programs as part of the preparation for the village elections in November this year and presidential elections in 2010.

* Political and Economic Risk Council statistics, http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=8753&geo=5&size=A