Elections are a key exercise of Philippine democracy. There are over 65.7 million individuals who will decide the next six years of the country’s leadership. With this, many youth voters will be casting their ballots for the first time. It is thus necessary to create spaces for them to learn more about elections and what this entails: from the use of vote counting machines to the value of citizen participation, from the issues that matter to voters to the new age of digital citizenship. 

Ahead of the May 2022 elections, Democracy Watch Philippines is once again partnering with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to launch Vote Right 2022, a non-partisan voter education program to be organized with different Colleges and Universities across the country. Democracy Watch and COMELEC have been official partners for voter education since 2015. This year, we again aim to engage the youth and encourage them to help achieve a safe, honest, accurate, and credible elections.  

The Vote Right 2022 launch virtually took place from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM on 22 February 2022 (Tuesday). Democracy Watch, together with the Stratbase ADR Institute, hopes that this program helps the youth make more informed decisions on who to choose come May 9, and to actively take part in democratic processes beyond the elections.

  

Program

Welcoming Remarks
Bishop Pablo Virgilio “Ambo” David
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
Bishop, Diocese of Caloocan

Opening Remarks 
Prof. Dindo Manhit 
President, Stratbase ADR Institute
Founder and Managing Director, The Stratbase Group 

Volunteerism and Youth Participation
Ms. Myla Villanueva
Chairperson, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting

Knowing Your Rights as Voters
Atty. Ona Caritos
Executive Director, Legal Network for Truthful Elections

Fact-Checking in the Elections
Dr. Rachel Khan
Program Coordinator, Tsek.ph
Associate Dean, University of the Philippines Diliman College of Mass Communication

SAFE Elections
Dir. James Jimenez
Spokesperson, Commission on Elections

Closing Remarks
Mr. Paco Pangalangan
Lead Convenor, Democracy Watch

Moderator
Kim Bay
Program Coordinator, Democracy Watch