Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama talked with the reporters after he casted his vote for the Barangay and SK Elections on Monday, October 30. | CDN File Photo by Niña Mae Oliverio
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Mayor Michael Rama hopes to have a separate voting place for senior citizens.
This was one of his sentiments after he voted during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections on Monday, October 30, at the Guadalupe Elementary School in Barangay Guadalupe in Cebu City.
Rama arrived at the elementary school around 10 a.m. on Monday and proceeded to his polling precinct located on the 4th floor of one of the buildings inside the school.
“Tu-a naman kos’ babaw nuon. (I was assigned to the top floors.) I’m already a senior citizen,” Rama said.
Rama said “sensitivity is very important.”
Despite that, Rama said that his voting experience was “sweet, brief, and very clear.”
There were other senior citizens who shared the same sentiments with Rama such as 72-year-old Nada Ruiz.
Ruiz’ precinct was also located on the 4th floor in the same school.
“It was hard for me to go up. Imagine 4th floor, so hinay lang jud [og pasaka],” Ruiz said. (So I was really slow in going up.)
“I would like to suggest to these people here in the government that at least, if there is a special place for the senior citizens. Kay malooy man gud ta [sa uban],” she said. (I pity others.)
Ruiz said it was okay for her since she still had the strength to climb up to the higher floor.
“How about the others, no?,” she said.
Ruiz said she arrived around 7:15 a.m. and finished his vote at around 8 a.m.
However, according to one of the electoral boards in Guadalupe Elementary School, senior citizens who could not manage to climb up to the higher floors can request to vote on the lower floors or outside in the area convenient for them.
Meanwhile, when asked for his message to the aspiring Barangay and SK candidates, Rama said, “win some, lose some.”
“Democracy is one and that is the most important thing,” he said.
Rama added that the “spirit of sportsmanship should reign.”
/bmjo
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