Incoming NoCot gov to push for voters’ education among youth

KIDAPAWAN CITY  – Believing the youth as the country’s future, North Cotabato Governor-elect and incumbent Rep. Nancy Catamco today said she will push for voter's education, especially among high school students to break the culture of vote buying during elections.

Rep. Catamco, elected as the next North Cotabato governor, said in a statement that educating high school students on the importance of voting was essential as they would eventually be joining the country's voting population.

“We need to have voters’ education as early as high school for them to understand the process, not only in selecting future leaders but also to enable them to deeply understand the implications,” she said.

She stressed that the youth must be informed of the impact of vote buying to their future.

“This is not only about a question of right to suffrage. Vote-buying has become a culture, according to studies,” she said.

Vote-buying, Catamco added, had corrupted even the youth, who are described as more idealistic than their elder peers.

“We can only change this by educating would be voters what will be the effect of selling their votes on their future,” she said.  “Let us make them understand that elections are not a one day event,” Catamcao, a three-termer national lawmaker.

“They should have a deeper understanding of what their decisions will do in nation-building and in their future,” Catamco added.

She said voters’ education will revolutionize the way leaders get elected because the youth will realize the impact of their decision.

“To do that, we should embark on an early education of voters and high school is the proper age to do that,” Catamco added.

Catamco will assume office on July 1.

She said in North Cotabato voters’ education sessions will be held in coordination with the Department of Education.

“Somebody has to start it and we will do it in North Cotabato,” Catamco said.

She urge national lawmakers to legislate a law that would make voters’ education part of the high school curriculum. “It has to be mandatory and has to be institutionalized in the curriculum,” Catamco said.

Asked why she did not pass a law on voters’ education while she was still a congresswoman, Catamco said it was only during last month’s local elections that she realized how massive vote-buying was.

“I have heard so many stories about vote-buying in the local level, which is not the case when I ran and won for a congressional seat for three terms,” she said.

“It was only after the local elections that I realized vote-buying is such a serious problem that we need to address (here in North Cotabato),” Catamco added.