Actor John Arcilla took to social media on May 12 to cast his vote in the elections. He shared photos of a broken student desk inside a classroom that had been turned into a waiting area in his polling precinct.
Arcilla asked: "Where is the budget for education?" She could not help but criticize the state of the schools and the effects of bad leadership. She urged the public to vote wisely: “The evidence of our wrong choices is now before us.”
Many netizens agreed with the actor. Many were frustrated with the classroom situation and connected it to issues of corruption and negligence by the government. “The taxes are high, but the facilities in the schools are like this,” commented one.
Some also said that this is nothing new, and that schools have been like this forever. “It feels like nothing has changed in 30 years,” said one voter. Others also said that politicians don't know the real situation because they only visit every election.
This election, approximately 68 million Filipinos are expected to vote for more than 18,000 positions nationwide. In scenes like this, many are once again calling for funding to be focused on education, not on anything else.