Election Experience, Part I

The 45 days of campaign activities was indeed an great experience for me.

House To House

This is an activity where we, the candidates will visit voters at their residences, meet them, shake hands with them and if lucky will get to talk to them too. Our campaign assistants will also give away our campaign leaflets.

Everyday during the campaign period, I had to wake up as early as 5 a.m. to get ready, and go to the assembly area for this activity. I did a lot of walking with the other candidates and our campaign assistants. Most of the places we have visited were new to me because it was my very first time to go to those places.

After 1 or 2 hours of walking, trying to visit the most number of houses and shake hands with voters, the breakfast portion is the most awaited for and much enjoyed portion of the morning. Our campaign coordinator , Ms. Arlene K, always see to it that everybody is well-fed during for breakfast, after the toiling house-to-house activity. At least 40 people each morning ate together at the breakfast-host-house-for-the-day. And the eating experience was always fun.

What do we usually had for breakfast? Hmmmm. scrambled eggs, fried dried fish, tinola, adobong nukos, inun-unan, hotdogs, coffee, bread, pancit,rice and many more..And after the filling breakfast, we get to sit and relax for awhile.Then, go home, take a shower and take a nap.

A Learning Experience

This summer has been a very busy season for me. Me and my husband have to wake up very early each morning to catch up with the first campaign activity of the day - the 'house-to-house',which starts at 6 o'clock in the morning. In the afternoons and evenings, we also have to attend campaign sessions at different barangays in the city.

The campaign activities has been a very good learning experience for me and my husband since through these, we are able to meet a lot of people from all walks of life and we get to visit places in the city where we haven't even visited ever since we lived in the city.

It is always a humbling experience for me to meet the urban poor. I get to see how they live and how they look living in their simple lives. The more I see people like them, the more my heart is touched, moved and encouraged that I need to work harder and so my share of doing something to help them live better lives.

When I see the kids, I see their innocent happy faces. They look so naive but yet these little creatures are the future of our country. They are the ones who must be given priority in the government's thrust and programs - that would help them live better lives and brighter future.

The more I am involved in this campaign, the more I learn what the people need most and the more I come to think how they can be helped.