The passenger jeep we took crawled along Sumulong Highway as the traffic was building up towards the polling place. It moved in a snail-pace fashion with so many people walking along the sidewalks going towards Mayamot Public School. The distance from where we were was still about fifty meters. A fair walking distance! I could have alighted already from the jeep and walked with the crowd towards the polling place should my wife were not with me. I could not help but imagine how she would feel walking along the crowded sidewalk given her health condition. Certainly, it would be an ordeal on her part. So, we opted to remain inside the passenger jeep while taking some glances at the different faces of the crowd outside.
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While still inside the jeep, we noticed the noise of the crowd increasing in decibels as we moved closer to the polling area. The place as a keen observer would notice was a semblance of a public market with supporters of the different candidates trying to distribute sample ballots to voters for the last minute. We saw different sample ballots scattered all over the street and sidewalk laying bare over the pavement trampled by the moving crowd as if signalling the voters that this is now the right time to decide who. A white carpet welcome! What a waste of money then.
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At last we arrived at the gate of the public school! I took turn to alight first to assist my wife. She was feeling not comfortable with the crowds everywhere in the place and the increasing heat of the morning sun. It was almost 9:00AM and the heat of summer was still in its toll. I knew then that the athmosphere and the crowd were all that my wife snobbed ever since she had the heart ailment. She always tries to avoid this kind of a situation if only she could. But then this time we had to exercise our right and for that cause we had to brave whatever hindrances that might come along. I knew this was all inside her mind also.
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I held her arm while we managed to squirt ourselves into the dense crowd. Slowly we moved on as we took the four-step entrance stair. The stair could have been climbed in just a few seconds, but in our case it took us almost three minutes. When we were up in the landing, I took my wife at the side of it for her to take some rest. I saw her gasping a bit, a sign that she was not that comfortable. I took the small white towel we brought to wipe the drops of sweat flowing from her forehead and started giving her some air using the fan handed to us by one of the campaigners outside. The paper fan portays a picture of one of the senatorial candidates on one side. On the flip side was the complete lineup of senatorial candidates of his party. What an idea! At least the fan helped us while away the heat we experienced that time. Then my thoughts went further as if in trance. Could these people help cool down the heads of the senate when they are elected in office? Is it not cooler heads that we need to make our country move on towards fulfilling the noble mission of attaining our economic goals? Of giving the Filipino people a sense of confidence and security? Of reducing poverty down to negligeble level.
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