MANILA, 14 February 2003 — After 15 years, the Philippine government yesterday finally fulfilled a promise to overseas Filipinos when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed a law enabling them to vote in Philippine elections.
Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act, first introduced in Congress in the mid-1990s, would allow many of about 7.8 million overseas Filipinos to vote where they work or live — a step touted as improving an electoral system known for fraud and favoring candidates among the rich and famous.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, the main sponsor of the measure in the Senate, hailed the new law as a major political victory not only for the millions of Filipinos abroad but also for the country as a whole. “This is a triumph for all Filipinos. The new law will boost our democracy by allowing the millions of overseas Filipinos to vote in the 2004 elections,” said Angara.
Angara said he expected Filipinos overseas, mostly workers and immigrants, to cast votes intelligently because many are educated, financially independent and influenced by the culture of developed countries.
“We hope it would improve the choice of our leaders,” Angara said. He expected overseas Filipinos to choose leaders not only because they’re “celebrities, TV stars.”
A steady stream of actors and actresses have capitalized on their popularity to win office in the Philippines. In 1998, Filipinos voted movie action star Joseph Estrada, a college dropout, to power with one of the largest margins in recent electoral history. He was ousted in January 2001 amid massive street protests over his alleged corruption and misrule.
The overseas Filipinos would be a crucial voting bloc, accounting for about 10 percent of the electorate. About 38 million people were eligible to vote in the last election.
Presidential, congressional and local elections are scheduled in 2004 but no budget has been appropriated for overseas balloting, lawmakers said.
Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos said the overseas balloting would be held in at least 102 countries, where inspectors and canvassers have to be sent. Such a costly personnel deployment has prompted a study on how voting could be centralized in certain areas to limit the number of polling places worldwide, he said.
The new law covers not only the contract workers but also immigrants and permanent residents of other countries. All those covered can vote for a president, vice president, senators and party-list congressmen in the 2004 elections.
Senate President Franklin Drilon hailed the signing into law of the law as “a historic and glorious day for the millions of overseas Filipinos and their families.”
“We now welcome our fellow OFWs, who have contributed tremendously in keeping our economy afloat throughout these many years, to participate in making our political processes more meaningful,” Drilon said.
“But the actual task has just begun,” Drilon said in a statement, saying “that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) now share the joint responsibility of ensuring an orderly, honest and fraud-free absentee voting in various parts of the world.”
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Arturo Brion told Arab News the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is up to this task but there are budget problems.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., one of the bill’s authors, earlier said Congress should now focus on the next task in empowering migrant Filipinos, that of allocating funds for the purpose.
“We must now provide the budget to allow the overseas Filipinos workers to vote in the 2004 elections. Otherwise, this right will be illusory,” he said.
The separate Senate and House of Representatives versions of the bill were reconciled thoroughly by a bicameral conference committee that held several controversial meetings highlighted by a couple of shouting matches between the lawmakers over the inclusion of immigrants in the absentee vote.
“Excluding the immigrants or permanent residents in foreign countries from this right would defeat the intent of absentee voting, mandated by the Constitution, which is to allow overseas Filipinos to exercise their right of suffrage,” Pimentel said.
It was eventually decided to include immigrants for the next (2004) elections, but for succeeding elections, the immigrants and permanent residents of other countries, must execute an affidavit of intent to return and establish physical residence within three years from 2004 elections.
It was also decided that Filipinos overseas would have to register in person at the embassies or consulates or at registered polling centers, of which the Comelec is mandated to add in cases where there are too few embassies or consulates. This will be aided by the system of continuing registration.
Voting by mail has been allowed only on a selective basis. In places where it is not allowed, voting will have to be done personally although land-based OFWs have one month to vote and sea-based OFWs will have 90 days. “Postal voting will be on pilot testing and may be expanded (or restricted) by an oversight committee after the 2004 elections,” Angara said.
Noel Esquela, chairman of the Center for Migrant Advocacies (CMA), said this means the specific areas for postal voting will only be specified in the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) but Japan, Canada and the UK were initially mentioned.
He said the basis for the choice will not only be efficiency of the postal service but also an established identification system that would preclude multiple or proxy voting and assured security of the ballots mailed out. Personal campaigning abroad has been allowed, as well as on-site counting or done simultaneously with counting in the Philippines, regardless of differences in time zones.
Overseas Filipino organizations will be allowed to participate in the absentee voting process in that they can engage in the broadest and widest information dissemination campaigns and even apply for accreditation as election watchdogs.
