Tuesday, May 26, 2009

COMELEC, to register or not to register?

So, I went to the Makati COMELEC office last week to get my voter's certificate. I went there at around 10:30 or 11:00 am. I noticed there were only two people (an old lady with glasses and a chubby, dark-brown-skinned guy) attending to the growing number of registrants in the small room. After around 10 minutes, the staff started to trickle in by ones and twos. When there were already seven of them in the cordoned staff area, one of them asked, "Starbucks tayo, ano sa inyo?(Let's go to starbucks, what're your orders?)." Then, three of them began taking the other staffs' orders and went out. Is this how things really work in the COMELEC office in Makati? They come in late, don't even bother to notice the crowded, stuffy room, don't care about the people who have been there since 8am (they said they open at 8am and close at 5pm), people who are angry, hungry, tired and already very, very sweaty. They even have the gall to shout that they're going down to get refreshments. Aren't they supposed to serve people because they get their salaries from those peoples' hard-earned money via their taxes?

I was supposed to register here last 2008 election but, I wasn't able to because of these COMELEC officials in Makati. I was just asking one of them what the requirements are for registration and she very rudely shouted at me to go to the back of the line, which btw, ended on the first floor of the building (the office is on the second floor). I wasn't asking anything inappropriate nor was I trying to sneak into the line. I just asked what I needed to bring for me to be able to register. Do I really need to wait in a very, very long line for that? I recommend that they post the requirements in front of or near the door if they don't want people asking about that. So, in embarrassment, anger and frustration, I just walked away.

Someone should do something about this. The COMELEC office in Makati doesn't have any order (except maybe the grande frappuccino from starbucks).

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