With all the commotion regarding the upcoming Senatorial Elections on May 14, of course, the women's chapter of our society has got something to say. As they say, the woman of the '90s is a woman of courage and disposition and they insist to be treated equally and with dignity by the society.

Last May 8, 2001, five hundred women of the militant organization Gabriela marched to the COMELEC holding 2 stone tablets containing the '10 Commandments' for clean elections. (The COMELEC grounds seem to be the hot spot these days).

In the tablets, they wrote: 1. Thou shall not allow guns, goons and gold to subvert the people's will; 2. Thou shall not allow coup plotters or criminals to remain as candidates; 3. Thou shall not allow COMELEC officials to accept bribes or exercise partisanship; 4. Thou shall not allow harassment and terrorism especially of teachers; 5. Thou shall not allow flying voters; 6. Thou shall not allow dagdag-bawas, dagdag-singit or any other dagdag to pad votes; 7. Thou shall not allow candidates to steal votes or switch ballot boxes; 8. Thou shall not allow influence peddling inside polling precincts; 9. Thou shall not allow major or traditional parties to qualify as a party list; 10. Thou shall not allow the suspension or postponement of elections in any area for partisan or unreasonable cause.

Nowadays, one can see that people from all walks of life and from all sectors of the society have joined forces to make sure that this year's elections will be different. Is it possible that the political turmoil that has been clouding over the Philippines since late last year will make one great positive effect---and that is to make the Juan Tamad and the Aling Nena of our society to get up, get out there and cast a well-thought and intelligent vote? Or will the people's effort to make a difference just be ignored just like every other election period that has come in our country? Did these women really make an impact to the Filipinos, or do their stone tablets just stand as mere symbols of an ideal Election Day? Maybe this time, the stone tablets need not be thrown to the people, but instead, remain there as a reminder to the people that they are about to make maybe one of their most important decisions this year.