MANILA, 11 October — The Commission on Elections has said it wants to try absentee voting in at least 10 countries should Congress enact a law allowing Overseas Filipino Workers and other non-resident Filipinos to vote in the Philippine elections.
Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo and Commissioner Resurreccion Borra told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the places to be included are Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, Japan, United States, Singapore, Italy, Spain, Canada, United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates.
Benipayo said there are about 2.90 million OFWs in these 10 countries.
The plan came under attack from National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) chairman Jose Concepcion Jr., who said that law should be carried out all at once. "Why even consider pilot testing?" Concepcion asked.
But the entire Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, which is hearing the absentee voting bill, lauded the Comelec’s suggestion.
"We don’t want to overtax the new system," said Sen. Edgardo Angara, chair of the committee.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said that the choice of places could be made on the basis of density of the possible voters.
Sen. Vicente Sotto III suggested that the embassies play a major role in the absentee voting process.
He added that ballots could be mailed directly to the OFW and from there directly to the Comelec in Manila.
But Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. objected to this, saying there might be a problem if the votation is not done on Philippine territory like in the embassies and consulates.
Noel Escuela, executive director of eLagda and an absentee voting advocate, told Arab News Sotto’s proposal was illogical since not all places abroad where there are Filipinos have embassies or consulates.
The hearing ended with the exact method still an uncertainty and Angara ordered the formation of a technical working group to consolidate all bills filed in the Senate on absentee voting.
Angara would decide on the final membership of the committee but it would include a member each from the Comelec, from non-government organizations involving Filipino migrants, and from the Namfrel. The other four members will come from among the staffmembers of the committee members.
"Another committee should also be formed to tell us where the loopholes are and punch holes in the (consolidated) bill," Sen. Sergio Osmeña III added.
Details were not taken up and were left to the working group to be formed. It was suggested that to minimize cheating, absentee ballots be canvassed abroad before being transmitted to the Comelec office in Manila for official canvassing.
