Abstract:
Last December 2009, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that more than 49 million voters have decided, with conscious effort, to register for the upcoming 2010 elections. The said number of registrants are said to be 2 million more than what was reported by the agency few months ago. Gregorio Larrazabal, Comelec Commisioner, confirmed that 49,225,089 Filipinos, in the country and abroad, have registered for the 2010 national and local elections. The said number was up by more than 4 million compared to those who registered last 2007 elections with 45.029 million and 2004 with 43.5 million. However, the said figure of 49,225,089 is not yet final since there still municipalities and cities that are yet to submit their registration reports. It is obvious that a high registration turnout took place for the upcoming 2010 elections and some attribute this to the heightened interest of Filipinos to vote in presidential elections and to experience the poll automation technology (Inquirer, 2009). From the figures provided in the previous paragraphs, it can be seen that there is a significant number of newly registrant voters which are mostly comprised by the youth. And that goes to show that the Filipino youth have a significant role to play in the coming elections. Furthermore, they are expected to make a stand for change as they exercise their right to vote for the first time. In order to do so, it is important that students who are going to vote are knowledgeable of the candidates' strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, they should know the qualities that they want and do not want in a candidate. [Inroduction]
