JEDDAH, 23 May — The passage of the Absentee Voting Bill in Congress is just days away and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is expected to sign it into law on June 6, Migrant Workers’ Day.
The bearer of this bit of good news is Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Merlin Magallona, who met with Filipino community leaders from the Western Region during a dialogue on Tuesday night at the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah.
Magallona warned, however, that once the law is signed, Filipinos abroad have to participate if they want to make it a success.
“Responsibility rests upon the shoulders of the Filipino communities abroad due to the special circumstances they are in,” said Magallona, who is responsible for getting Philippine missions abroad to face the challenge.
He said that public hearings and interpellations in both the Senate and House of Representatives have been completed last week and both houses have a consolidated version of the bills, ready for passing.
Once the two houses pass their versions of the measure, a bicameral committee will be formed to reconcile the differences in the two bills.
A reconciled bill will then be ratified by both houses and submitted to the president for her signature.
Magallona said such a measure allowing overseas Filipinos to vote in the country’s national elections had been provided for under the 1987 Constitution but it was only this time that the administration and opposition in Congress have joined hands in passing an enabling law.
Under the measure being worked out, overseas Filipinos will be allowed to vote in Philippine national elections starting in year 2004 congressional polls.
Allowed to vote are contract workers (OFWs) and immigrants who have not yet renounced their Philippine citizenship.
Voters under this law are limited to the offices of president, vice president, senators, and party-list representatives. OFWs are also entitled to cast their votes during national referendum and plebiscites.
In order for overseas Filipinos to avail of their rights to vote, they must register. Application forms will be sent to Philippine embassies and consulates around the world, who in turn, will distribute these forms to OFWs in their respective jurisdictions.
Completed forms will then be sent to Commission on Election in Manila, which will maintain a special registry of absentee voters.
One of the mechanics of the bill that raised eyebrows among the community leaders in Jeddah was a provision anyone can question or “oppose” any registrant at random.
Once there is an opposition, the concerned OFW has to answer the charges leveled against him. He must support his claims as an OFW with official documents such as an “iqama” (work permit issued to OFWs in Saudi Arabia), or other legal documents.
According to Magallona, once the concerned OFW presents his proof, the debate is over. This process of opposition and rebuttal, however, is cumbersome and will require a lot of paperwork and may delay the voting process.
Magallona could not give a clear answer on whether undocumented workers would be covered by the bill. But during the public hearing conducted in Riyadh on March 15, senators and congressmen led by Sen. Edgardo Angara said the fact that a work permit is required for registration automatically means that undocumented workers are not allowed to vote.
Magallona also discussed possible disenfranchisement of voters. He cited the example of an OFW who has to go home because of an emergency during the time of election. The bill, at its current form, won’t allow this OFW to vote in the Philippines simply because he has been registered as an absentee voter. According to Magallona once an OFW registers as an absentee voter, his voting right is not convertible until he goes home for good.
Senators who deliberated on the bill during the hearings opined that the number of absentee voters, who might be disenfranchised due to circumstances beyond their control, during election day, will be minimal and therefore negligible.
After consulting with OFW’s around the globe, legislators provided that counting of votes for absentee voting will be done in the respective areas of voters. By doing this, the result of the voting will be available hours after the election.
The bill stipulates that ballots will be sent to embassies and consulates, which will send them to OFWs. Once the ballots have been filled, voters can either hand-carry them to the embassy or consulate, or send them by mail. To be valid, a ballot must arrive in the embassy or consulate three days before election day.
With the efficiency of the mail system still wanting in most countries, many OFW believe that their will be a dearth of stray ballots. Automation seems to be the solution to this problem, but with a divided Comelec under the Benipayo and Tangcanco factions, this may be just a dream. Magallona pointed out that the bill stipulates for an automated electoral process.
Under the bill, no candidate will be allowed to campaign among Filipinos abroad. This is considered tricky because voters must know the platform of government candidates have in order to vote wisely.
Magallona said that campaign materials will be sent to voters but he didn’t specify in what form or volume. If politicians will send by post their campaign materials, there is the possibility that these materials will clog the mail system of a host country, thereby create a bottleneck in its operation, it was observed during the dialogue. He admitted that the bill at its current form has many loose ends that needed tightening. But he said there is no turning back now, which is why Filipino communities abroad have to mobilize and help the government make the law a success.
“We feel the responsibility on our shoulders, and we must respond,” he said.
