I thought renewing my passport would be an easy 1-2-3 step as advertised by the friendly looking DFA passport.ph website.

However upon finding out that I'm married to a Dutch national, I was asked to attend a seminar sponsored by the CFO (Commission on Filipino Overseas workers) about the cruelties of being married to a European fellow.

Okay I thought. This would be easy, and interesting. Yes it is true there are dozens of poor Filipina ladies victimized by the lure of the grand life in Europe only to end up being abused and all once they arrive on foreign soil. Its good that there is such an agency to help protect the rights of my compatriats.

The seminar was held at the Good Shepherd Convent. Spent all morning and all afternoon there. And as expected, yes it was interesting indeed.

Now came the funny part. As everyone else claimed their Certificate of Attendance. When my turn came around the lady at the counter claimed discrepancies in my marriage contract since my name there was typed "Ma. Cecilia" and not "Maria Cecilia" as stated in my birth certificate. Because of this my Certificate of Attendance would be held hostage until this matter was fixed. What a strange bureacratic issue this must be I wondered. Wouldn't "Ma." obviously stand for "Maria"? Especially since the box in the marriage contract couldn't possibly fill up my entire name?

But after a little whining, I agreed to go to the Local Civil Registrar to serve the insatiable itching of these ladies to avoid further argument.

Now little did I know what a huge hurdle this was going to be. My Local Civil Registrar, located in Pasig City Hall, needed me to submit various documents including a Voter's Affidavit.

Gathering the other documents was easy. But the Voter's Affidavit sent me on an incredible whirlwind commute from my home in Cainta - to Pasig City Hall - to Quezon City Hall - to the COMELEC in Intramuros.

I initially went to the Quezon City Hall thinking this is where I get my Voter's affidavit because having lived and grown up in Quezon City, this is the place where I've registered all my identification documents to claim my right to vote. Ofcourse COMELEC has never given me any form of a voter's identification document since every election period my name would automatically appear in there list of registered voters before I actually make my vote.

But this is not about voting since it isn't voting season. This was going to be about getting my Voter's Affidavit.

Surprise surprise, COMELEC representatives will not receive any payment in their QC branch. I was told to go down to COMELEC in Intramuros to pay my P75 due.

So I was able to experience the joy of pretty much all of Metro Manila's hippest  modes  of transportation today. Tricycle out of my subdivision. Jeepney from Cainta to the highway. Taxi to Good Shepherd Convent in Aurora Blvd. LRT-2 to Cubao.  MRT-3 to Quezon Ave. Jeepney to QC Hall. Jeepney to Philcoa. FX to Quiapo. Jeepney to Comelec. Pedicab to LRT-1. MRT-3 to Robinson's Galleria. And eventually an FX to get to Cainta. And a tricycle home.

I guess I just needed to hop on a bus, a kalesa, and perhaps one of those sweet Ford F150's to complete the commuter's collection that day.

I did enjoy meeting all the lovely people along the way who so graciously helped me with directions. There were a cluster of lady police officers who directed me to where to find a ride to Intramuros. It was nice they could sympathize with my predicament. Plus the FX driver who revealed to me how to hop on a jeepney that would drop me straight at COMELEC. I really appreciated their friendliness.

I'm so tired now. Tomorrow, I'll begin my long journey back to Intramuros to claim my Voter's Affidavit. Yesterday, all I accomplished was paying for the application.

I don't know what lays ahead in this lovely democratic bureacracy I live in when I finally go to the Local Civil Registrar to claim my application for an amendment from "MA." to "MARIA". But please pray I'll get this fixed soon so I can make the nuns at the Good Shepherd happy in order that they set my Certificate of Attendance free so that I can finally get my passport renewed.