Think of Your Vote as a Lotto Ticket

If you think about it, it really makes no sense to vote.

In the first place, what are the chances that your single solitary vote will actually decide the elections? Don't delude yourself. You probably have a greater chance of winning the lotto.

And second, think about how the counting machines aren't working right, and how the lines will literally craaaaawwwwlll as people take at least ten minutes to fill in those 2-foot long ballots. And then, there's the unbearable heat - caused by the sun and made worse by the seemingly countless bodies that are sure to crowd you on election day (naligo ka na ba sa pawis ng iba?).

Rational Filipinos are going to be better off just sleeping late, watching the circus on TV and then taking some time to go out and purchase a lotto ticket.


But most Filipinos, including all of us at CANVAS, are not rational. So come election day, we will, like most Filipinos, brave the heat and the crowds, and all vote.

The way we see it, our vote is our voice, and we choose to join the chorus of voices clamoring for change. It doesn't matter that whoever hears our shout will not discern our voice from the many others. What matters is that we are part of history, and that makes it worth the time and effort.

It is good to remember that we do actually get a few chances to be part of history - so let's not waste it.

Who will we vote for? Well, since the chances of our vote actually deciding the elections is very very slim (like we said, think winning the lotto), we will treat it like a lotto purchase. We may not win, but if we do win, we want to win BIG (as in really-great-for-the-country big!).

So only sensible thing is to vote for the person who we think can best lead the country. That will be our only criteria - not the looks, not the slogans, not the surveys (although indeed, maybe the best candidate is the best looking, most articulate and leads in the surveys - don't we all wish).

Nothing else matters. It doesn't matter that he or she might lose. Again, we want to win BIG. And we won't win big by settling.

And if who we vote for doesn't win? Well, winning consolation prizes from the lotto always made us happy. We will live with the results. Wala lang dayaan.

It's as simple as that. So there.

** ** Artwork entitled "Pinger" by Buen Calubayan (4'x2' digital print on tarpaulin) for Everyday Filipino Heroes.