Ateneo schools offer campuses as satellite voter registration sites

By Pat Jared V. Pangantihon
Correspondent

ATENEO schools across the island are offering their campuses as satellite registration sites, emphasizing the need to reach out to the millions of Filipinos who are still unregistered, and providing a wider reach for voter registration.

In an online media briefing entitled: “Ateneos Speak Up: Media Briefing on the Call to Open more Satellite Registration Sites including Schools” today, the Mindanao Consortium of Ateneos, composed of Ateneo de Davao University, Xavier University, and Ateneo de Zamboanga University, offered to the Commission on Elections their campuses.

“Schools have offered their spaces as satellite registration sites; they would employ the same safety protocols as to when they opened their doors to help out in the vaccination rollout. Exploring mobile registration activities to remote areas can also be an option to make registration accessible to voters in the margins,” said Fr. Joel E. Tabora SJ, president, Ateneo de Davao University.

Ateneo de Zamboanga University president Fr. Karel A. San Juan SJ cited the equal importance of the people’s right to vote and the right to health, especially during the pandemic.

“Ensuring that people are able to cast their votes and securing their safety from Covid-19 are both goods to be preserved. Disenfranchised needs to be avoided just as we must avoid the deadly virus. A balancing both requires creativity,” added San Juan.

In the press briefer provided by the organizers, the MCA priority agenda, for now, addresses three urgent areas of concern given the current socio-political, economic, cultural, and environmental landscape of Mindanao.

These are Electoral Engagement for the 2022 Elections to proactively work for clean, honest, accurate, meaningful, and peaceful 2022 elections; Participation in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Transition in which the consortium joins the push for a meaningful transition by contributing to the policy formulations of the BTA Parliament and ensuring that inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogues remain open; and Environmental Protection: Particularly, the MCA will amplify its call against large scale mining in the country that results to the plunder of our natural resources and desecration of indigenous peoples’ traditions and territories.

“We will strengthen the campaign for electoral and political education to further empower the youth to shape the future through their votes,” Fr. Mars P. Tan SJ, President, Xavier University, said.

They added that they support democratic elections for Mindanao, and want to know the candidates’ stand on the peace process in Mindanao with regard to the communist-led insurgency and other extremists, on the environment particularly mining in Mindanao, on the West Philippine Sea, support of farmers with the influx of Chinese agricultural products in the country, and support the education of the people, how to make quality education available to all.