Why bother?

In his blog Vincula, Atty. Teddy Te asks, "why vote"? His is a very eloquent entry:

Why vote indeed? Because there must be hope. Because there is hope. The hope that one vote and one's vote--yours and mine--brings. One's vote and one vote makes the difference between light and darkness, the difference between being in chains once more and being truly free, the difference between whining in enforced silence and raising voices in just and righteous indignation, the difference between all that is good for this beautiful country and all that will lead us further on the road to perdition.

And of course, there are those, like columnist Honesto General, who is an old pro at voting and suggests it's never as idealistic as Teddy Te might hope:

Looking back, my vote has seldom been based on ideology or partisanship. Voting has usually been a deeply personal act.

As Philippine Commentary puts it, this is the home stretch of the campaign. Some parts of the election seems a foregone conclusion, as Dean Jorge Bocobo reminds us, the first eight slots in the senate rankings indicate a lead comfortable enough to be cheat-proof. But a large number of senate slots are still up for grabs, and the only question is, what will decide it for the remaining five who will make it to the senate? We can only hope, the voters will make the difference.