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 conduct Vote Right 2022, a non-partisan voter education program 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.  

Following the Vote Right 2022 Launch last 22 February, this will be the second installment in the Vote Right series – a voter education forum for students from Visayas and Mindanao. Democracy Watch hopes that this program will help the youth make more informed decisions on who to choose come May 9, and to actively take part in democratic processes beyond the elections. This regional event also aims to take the pulse of the students as to what issues matter to them most during this election season.  

Program

Opening Remarks
Prof. Dindo Manhit
President, Stratbase ADR Institute

16 Core Values
Dr. Arwin Serrano
Trustee, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting

Combating Disinformation
Mr. Paco Pangalangan
Lead Convenor, Democracy Watch

On the 2022 Elections
Dir. James Jimenez
Director of the Education and Information Department,
Commission on Elections

Moderator
Kim Bay
Program Coordinator, Democracy Watch