[OPINION] I voted but that wasn’t enough

Nile Villa

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[OPINION] I voted but that wasn’t enough
Each vote matters but there's something that matters more

I admit, I didn’t do enough for this election.

I’m the type of person who doesn’t like broadcasting who I will be voting for. I believe that my vote is my personal and private choice. Nobody needs to know the candidates I support. 

Not one mention.

In every conversation that turned political, whenever I was asked who I supported, I barely gave an answer. When people talked about voting for candidates for less than valid reasons (well, less than valid in my opinion, at least), I shut my mouth.

“Don’t get into it,” I would say to myself. “You could begin an argument. You’ll show your hand. It’s not worth it.”

So nobody’s name ever left my lips.

Not one share. 

From time to time, I’d see some of my chosen candidates going viral and it made me happy to know that like-minded people were out there spreading the word. But I always left it at that.

“They have their own campaign teams whose job it is to go out and talk about them.”

I was content sitting back and watching it all from a distance.

Not one like.

Even in my own close circle of friends, who generally shared my sentiments, I refused to give away my choices.

“They have enough believers.” I didn’t have to stake my claim and risk looking like a fool to smarter people who could probably suss out the shortcomings of each of my candidates.

I’ll give them my vote, but I won’t acknowledge them as my candidate.

I believed that my chosen few stood a chance. Surely people saw how good they would be for our country without me having to lift a finger to help. 

But then I think about 76-year-old constitutionalist and human rights advocate Ed Garcia who went around to hand out flyers at bus stations at night, hoping against hope to see a change for the better in this country that he refuses to give up on.

And I think about all the people who believed in their candidates so much that they used old tarpaulins and cardboard boxes to make signs and hang them outside their houses for people to see. 

And I think about all the people who did what very little they could just to tell others that, there are other choices that can be made, there are other candidates that they should consider as well.

When I think about all the small efforts of each individual, I realize that I didn’t do my part.

I can blame the rest of the country all I want, but really… how much did I do to affect this outcome?

I forgot that every action, like every single vote, matters. – Rappler.com

Follow Rappler’s full coverage of the 2019 Philippine elections here.

Bookmark this Rappler page for real-time election results.

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