#MagpaRehistroKa: Vote Pilipinas launches Voter Registration Month this May

Vote Pilipinas is a non-profit, non-partisan online and offline information campaign aimed at mobilizing Filipinos to register to vote for the upcoming national and local 2022 elections. They teamed up with COMELEC and kickstarted May by designating it as Voter Registration Month. It is quite symbolic that today’s launch is exactly one year to the day we exercise our right to vote on May 9, 2022.

The goal of Vote Pilipinas is to get 7M new registered voters while staying true to the campaign’s objective of leveraging on technology in providing people accessible, simplified, and unbiased information, and data on voter registration.

The deadline to register yourself as a voter is September 30, 2021. That is just a little over 4 months away so there is a real need to help spread the word around so that more people will be eligible to exercise their right to decide who will be our next set of leaders.

If you are a first-time voter or one who has been delisted from COMELEC’s database (those who missed voting for 2 consecutive elections), just visit the Vote Pilipinas website (www.votepilipinas.com) and take the Voter Registration Service Test to learn how to register or reactivate your voter status.

Read: VotePilipinas.com: How to register as a voter

The launch, attended by media and the public, featured interviews with several COMELEC representatives and Vote Pilipinas partners, which included the women of TOWNS and DOOH (the organization in charge of outdoor billboards). The event highlighted what it means to be a responsible voter by motivating Filipinos to encourage their communities (families, friends, & colleagues) to register to vote.

The event ended with a special performance by singer-songwriter Kean Cipriano and rapper Max Importunate who sang their latest advocacy song, Botante Importante, released also today under O/C Records. Pay attention to the words.

[Lyrics]

Kean Cipriano:
Botante Ako!
Kapangyarihan ay nasa’king kamay (Importante Ako!)
Bata, Matanda, May Pera o Wala (Botante Ako!)
Ako ang pagbabago! (Botante Ako!)
Importante Ako!
Botante Ako!

Nasa atin buto bago natin diligan
Ang dapat na mamuno pataba sa taniman
Kung sino man ugat saating kapaligiran ay ang magiging dahilan ng bunga sa karangyaan
Pagmasdan ay mas mainam kung nag tatanong ka pa
Sa dami ng pumarehas di na malayang pandama
Kailangan na maging isa upang mas lalong lumakas
Kapangyarihan sa kamay-nilaan ko sa ‘Pinas

Para sa mga gutom na halos isugal sa lubid
Buhay na walang pag-asa lalong kumikitid
Eskinitang masikip ang tinulugan sa palagid
Putik na ang kulay ng iniinom na tubig

Kaya bata, matanda, mahirap o mayaman
Di lang kabataan pag-asa ng ating bayan
Tayo na ang dahilan ng pag upo sa upuan
Isang kulay sa diliri para sa karapatan

Chorus:

Kean Cipriano:

Botante Ako!
Kapangyarihan ay nasa’king kamay (Importante Ako!)
Bata, Matanda, May Pera o Wala (Botante Ako!)
Ako ang pagbabago! (Botante Ako!)
Importante Ako!
Botante Ako!

Verse

Sa dilim ng paligid
May pag asang nakasilip
Sa kinabukasang gusto kong pagandahin
Ang daming humihirit
Mga pangakong sumisirit
Sino bang may malasakit?
Ayoko na ng hirap at pait

Max Importunate:

Nakapili kana ba kung sino sakanila
Piliin makialam nang hindi ka mag taka
Ito ang paraan upang malaman mo di lang ako, sila, ikaw talagang mahalaga

Sa mga oras na ito, nasating mga kamay
Sasalalay ang pag ikot ng napili na gabay
Wag kang mamaos humingi kapag may dapat ibigay
Kung di man tayo marinig isigaw sabay sabay

Chorus:

Kean Cipriano:

Botante Ako!
Kapangyarihan ay nasa’king kamay (Importante Ako!)
Bata, Matanda, May Pera o Wala (Botante Ako!)
Ako ang pagbabago! (Botante Ako!)
Importante Ako!
Botante Ako!

Through this program, Vote Pilipinas with the help of COMELEC and various partner sectors, will showcase a Mobilization Program, an efficient and effective way to help ensure that a community is 100% registered to vote. These include doing internal surveys and conducting voter registration town halls.

There are 3 options for voter registration:

1. Personal walk-in or by appointment
2. iRehistro website (https://irehistro.comelec.gov.ph) – You fill up the form online, print it out on legal size paper, and bring it to COMELEC office.
3. Satellite registration

Every Filipino should be afforded the right to suffrage. You have a right to register, to access understandable information about the candidates, and most especially, you have the right to vote.

Register now. Do not wait for the last day because by then, lines will be very long. COMELEC’s James Jimenez said that right now, registration can be as quick as 2-3 minutes if you go to the COMELEC office with a pre-printed and accomplished registration form. However, based on their experience, buzzer beaters who register on the last day often find themselves having to wait for many hours. Registration days/hours are Mondays to Thursdays, 8AM to 3PM in GCQ and MGCQ areas only. Those in MECQ areas will have to wait until the quarantine status is changed to GCQ or MGCQ.

Tell your eligible family members and friends to make an effort to register to vote before September 30, 2021. Tell them to visit Vote Pilipinas at www.votepilipinas.com!

Want to make change and be part of the Vote Pilipinas team? Sign up to volunteer at bit.ly/VotePilipinasVolunteer2021. For partnerships, email Vote Pilipinas at [email protected].