The Manila Bulletin Wednesday hosted the registration for ABS-CBN's "Boto mo, I-Patrol Mo (BMPM): Ako ang Simula" which encourages citizens to use new media and their cellphones to patrol the vote and push for clean elections in May 2010.

With the help of the Manila Bulletin's Schools, Colleges and Universities (SCU) section, what started as a plan for an essay-writing event with ABS-CBN, turned out into something bigger and more important.  The SCU section coordinated with the schools and invited students to participate in the registration. They also invited citizens from barangays as well as high school students.

"We know and we believe in this project (Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo), said Ms. Bernadette Cunanan, manager for Public Relations for the Manila Bulletin.

"More than anything else, we focus on the youth. This is one thing na alam natin na interesado ang youth...[it's] easy, accessible, they're involved. We try to push that, for them to make an active role and do their part," she said.

As of 2:00 pm, there were already 1,467 BMPM registrants, mostly composed of college students. BMPM expects the number of registrants to reach up to 5,000 until the end of the registration this afternoon.

The Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo registration is open to everyone, may you be a registered voter or not. In fact, the youngest registrant as of 2:00 pm was a thirteen-year-old high school student.

According to Pamela Munji, BMPM coordinator, the Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo is not only a venue for ordinary citizens, also called Boto-patrollers, to report anomalies and inconsistencies in the 2010 elections, it is also a venue for the youth to report issues that are important to them for the media to address it.

The Boto Mo, I-Patrol Mo: Ako ang Simula is mainly looking for election-related stories. However, newsworthy events in the community can also be reported.

Archie Navarro, a BMPM registrant from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, said that his commitment is to watch for anomalies during the election period such as vote-buying.

"Hindi naman natin maiiwasan 'yung mga bumibili ng boto, siguro pwedeng ireport 'yun para kahit papano mabawasan o maiwasan 'yung hindi tamang pagbili ng boto ng tao."

The reports that are submitted through the BMPM are verified and validated before they are made public.

"We can't report the information without verifying the story," Munji said. According to her, one of the ways to verify the story is to contact the source to ask for more information. After this, a reporter or a researcher can then dig deeper into the story.

Some of the schools who participated in the registration are Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), Philippine Women's University, (PWU), Centro Escolar Universty (CEU), University of Santo Tomas (UST), Collegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL).

The event will conclude with performances from ROCKed Philippines and Popoyfield.