Photo from Blue Vote 2016’s official Facebook page

Around 200 Blue Vote volunteers gathered Wed, March 2 at the Finster Auditorium of Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) for the intensive lecture series in preparation for the 2016 elections.

The University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council (UCEAC) of AdDU organized the talk that aimed to inform, update and intensify the knowledge of the volunteers on election-related issues.

Atty. Arnold Abejaron, law school professor and executive secretary for UCEAC, discussed the election laws in the Philippines during Blue Vote’s second growth session.

He elaborated the legal basis for the elections and explained some provisions of the Omnibus election code, RA 9006: Fair Elections Act, and the Comelec en banc Resolution No. 10049.

Moreover, Abejaron also stressed the importance of poll-watching or the act of observing the conduct of the elections or other modes of popular representation or participation.

On the other hand, UCEAC Chairperson Atty. Romeo T. Cabarde, Jr.  said in an interview that one of the  key missions of the university is to promote good governance.

“Through the Blue Vote platform, we were able to encourage the students, alumni, teachers, and staff of the university to be part of something meaningful especially in ensuring clean, honest, accurate and peaceful elections,” Cabarde said.

As Cabarde pointed out, the only way for evil to triumph for good people to do nothing.

“We feel that we have the obligation, we have the duty to our country and the society to protect the sanctity of the votes. So despite the security risks, we committed ourselves to the promotion of good governance all for the common good,” Cabarde emphasized.

In addition, Vicco Piodos, fourth year Political Science student and Blue Vote Cluster Head of the volunteer management group, said in an interview that being a Blue Vote volunteer was once a call and a challenge.

“As I discern, I thought that being a student and a citizen is not all about voting, but about how can we act aside from voting. So I decided to become a volunteer,” Piodos said.

“Being a volunteer is a powerful job for us students especially during this time. Why not try to become part of this noble act? We have the potential and we can do something for our country,” Piodos added.

Blue Vote Facilitator’s Circle Cluster Head Ramon Beleno III also said that in the end, the volunteers should be driven with passion and commitment to serve.

Beleno also stressed that the volunteers should strive hard to learn more about the issues because one cannot give what one does not have.

UCEAC’s first growth session was about Beleno ‘s talk on good governance and Janlery Laganao’s lecture on Philippine political culture.

Meanwhile, the third installment on the lecture series will be about Citizen Journalism and it will be on March 9 in the same venue.