Hoping for HOPE in 2022 elections

Using the editorial article “Hope in 2022”, write a position paper and
choose whether you will take the same position or the opposite.

As the elections draw nearer and nearer, challenges, surely, will sprout left and
right, most notably that there’s a COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 63,364,932 Filipinos
have registered to vote in the May 2022 elections as of September 11. The number of
new registrations is estimated to be over five million. Approximately 871,000 persons
had their data renewed, while 3.2 million had asked for voter data transfer. With the
astounding numbers of new voters, it is believed to have a great impact on 2022
elections, however, this is just one of the many task Commission on Elections
(COMELEC) that have succeeded. More will come, from the campaign period to the
day announcement of the officials who won people’s hearts. With the elections being
pushed through, stricter measures should apply to enforce and apply the HOPE in
2022 elections: honest, orderly and peaceful elections. And growing problems should
be addressed as early as possible to secure a HOPE in the coming elections.

Given the situation where the current administration has an ineffective response
against the pandemic, the coming elections will beam as a signal of hope. People will
seize this chance to turn the situation into something better. However, even in prior
elections, HOPE which secures both win-win situations for people and the government
has always been a challenge. It will be even more so now that the country is focused
on balancing lives and livelihoods in the fight against COVID. Due to the widespread
epidemic restrictions, purging current voter lists will be difficult. These will be hurdles
in achieving HOPE, COMELEC has to think of measures that will cater to those kinds of
problems. Ensuring safety and health protocols are being adhered to, should be the
top priority as we don’t want a huge surge of viral transmission after elections.
Second, COMELEC has to ensure that the election would be clean and free from
fraud.
 Moreover, COMELEC has to give attention to the worrying spread of fake news in
social media. Given that more Filipinos have engaged in social media as a result of the
advent of the pandemic, COMELEC has to make sure that disinformation and
misinformation would be cut out from the eyes of Filipinos. Such misinterpretation and
disinformation would heavily impact the results of elections. Furthermore, More effort
is needed from security forces to prevent candidates from using murder as the final
instrument to ensure their win at the polls. Aside from that, the voting machines should
run properly and in good conditions, to do so, several tests should run before handing
it over to different regions. COMELEC should learn to avoid the mistakes they’ve
committed in the past.

It’s sure will be tough given the situation but despite the pandemic, the country
cannot afford to delay the elections. A no-election scenario, sometimes known as a
no-el, is exceedingly disruptive and can only exacerbate the country's economic
slump. The 2022 elections would be a game-changer to the current situation, the
more reason why this election should continue amidst pandemic.

Positions ranging from the presidency to the legislature and all the way down to
the lowest levels of local government will determine our future, the future of our
country and the future generations, so we must vote wisely, with integrity and morality
as we shade our ballots. The arduous battle against the COVID-19 infection has
unavoidably hampered preparations for this significant election exercise but this
shouldn’t stop us in seeking change, good governance, most notably in these times. In
the coming elections, all of us have the power to change, and to look for betterment.