bumoto ka ba?

ano? bumoto ka ba? ako oo, kanina, kasama ko si lola. we're supposed to have voted at 7am, as i told lola last night that i dont want to go when the sun is already blasting its scorching waves. kaya lang, i wasn't able to get up that early, so ayun, tanghaling tapat kami naka-alis. tatay was kind enough to drive us to the nearest public school. buti na lang today's weather was okay, not really painfuly hot (in our place at least).

as expected, nagkalat ang mga namimigay ng flyers/sample ballots. lola and i already knew where our designated precints are - thanks to the ppc volunteers at our parish, so we went straight to our rooms. when i entered the room, i was asked for my name then i reached for my ID for proper identifaction. the lady in charge (how do you call them ba when they function this way? election staff?? i just know that they are public school teachers) didn't even bother to check it, didn't even take a look at my pretty face on my ID. she handed me the ballot and told my i'm good to go. so there. since i already have a list, it didn't took long. i got up and handed my ballot to one of the poll watchers. he cut my ballot's lower half and dropped the them on the ballot box. afterwards, he dropped an indelible in on my right index finger. that's my finger you're seeing above.

different thing happened to lola. no poll watcher inside her room. i noticed that she had no indelible ink on her finger. when i pointed that out, she said "ano, babalik ba tayo, para patakan daliri ko" sabi ko wag na. then a thought played in my mind - pabalikin ko kaya si lola to vote under nanay's name? tutal naman, napaka-lax ng mga teachers to even bother to check the ID. but then, di bale na lang. i discarded the thought and just decided to inform one of the volunteer watchers when we were going out. i informed one of the watchers - told him the the one in charge in the precinct where lola voted didn't even bother to give her a drop of indelible ink. the watcher just stared at me, didn't even react. hhmm.. hindi naman sya siguro bingi? or baka nabighani lang sa kausap nya.. anyway, just to show you one of the many lapses every election day. well, at least walang brownout sa amin, not like in one part of mindanao where they have to vote with only candles as the source of light.

after voting, tatay and i went to batangas for (paternal) lola's death anniversary. that's my magnificent view while inside the car. i love the cloud formation here (photo was not manipulated - i only adjusted the color, that's just it)



more photos to come, including my tagaytay and EK trip with office friends.