Akbayan rep calls for review of absentee voting law : QC IMC

Ina privilege speech delivered Tuesday at the House of Representatives, Rosales said “With the past elections marred in so much controversy, it is the absentee votes that could put a definite swing towards greater transparency and accountability in our leadership with a process that has proven fraud-free so far.”

The lady legislator said the OAV constituency is a potent force for change, having been exposed to the brand of governance advanced by other democracies. “They have an idea of how things could get better here.”

“Sticky issues such as voting by mail, the imposition in Section 5(t) for immigrants and permanent residents to file affidavits of an intent to return to the Philippines in three years after the elections, the lack of information regarding registration requirements and procedures, should be arrested to make the law stronger, not irrelevant,” Rosales added, reacting to sentiments among certain quarters that the OAV Law be repealed since it is too expensive.

“Modern technology has to be maximized to make the process cost-effective,” suggested Rosales, “and the COMELEC has said that the introduction of internet voting is being contemplated in areas like Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy where it would cost about P25 million for every 500,000 voters compared to P52 million using snail mail.”

“Opportunities for registration should also be widened, not just in Philippine consulates, POEA, OWWA and the NAIA, but also Filipino organizations based abroad could also be accredited and/or deputized to help these agencies perform their functions,” she added.

“The higher purpose for this which we must not lose sight of is the empowerment of our citizens who remain Filipino at heart and are simply constrained by economic conditions to take residence elsewhere to work,” she said.
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Speech: A Call to Revisit and Strengthen the Overseas Absentee Voting Law

November 7, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on a matter that relates to our continuing efforts at empowering Filipinos no matter where they may be located - here or abroad. The Overseas Absentee Voting Law was enacted in February 13, 2003 to enable otherwise disenfranchised Filipinos to have a say in the way that this government is run by upholding their right to suffrage.

Republic Act No. 9189 was enacted pursuant to the constitutional mandate provided under Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines that “The Congress shall, among others, provide a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad.”

So it was that in 2003 the Department of Foreign Affairs, mandated by the law as the primary agency responsible with implementing the OAV Law through its foreign service posts, began to undertake the registration of the more than 8 million Filipinos currently working or residing in other countries. Together with the COMELEC and the POEA, these agencies oversaw the conduct of the 2004 overseas absentee voting.

A total of 364,187 Filipino absentee voters registered abroad in 84 Philippine Embassies, Consulates and other foreign service establishments. In the 2004 elections, a total of 233,092 (65% of registered voters) turned out to vote in the more than 100 precincts that were established in different parts of the world. The expense this exercise entailed is now being used as an excuse to dismiss the OAV Law as a failure and call for its repeal.

Yet I was in Qatar recently Mr. Speaker, where I had a chance to talk to consulate officials, where I was informed that the total number of OFWs there totalled 102,000 but only a tiny fraction went out and registered for elections last time. It seems the pattern is the same everywhere, and there are many loopholes from both sides - the implementing institutions and the voters themselves.

But it doesn’t mean that with just one turn we will give up on the OAV Law immediately. It may simply be birth pains, but there is certainly more to work on to enable the particpation of a greater number of the 3 million eligible voters in our country’s electoral exercises.

Comelec data cited that for the 2007 polls, so far only 817 OFWs in Asian countries registered, 474 in Middle East and Africa, 782 in the Americas, and 592 in Europe. Additionally, 546 signed up at the main office of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in Mandaluyong City. From these regions, areas with the highest registrants so far include Hong Kong, Riyadh, San Francisco and London.

How do we strengthen the OAV Law? In Qatar, I presented a paper under the theme Towards Greater Effectiveness of Parliaments, where I touched on the oversight function of parliaments, which includes the evaluation of laws and their effectiveness towards even more remedial reform, and I do sense that the OAV Law is one topic where it doesn’t matter what side of the fence you come from, the higher purpose for this is the empowerment of our citizens who remain Filipino at heart and are simply constrained by economic conditions to take residence elsewhere to work.

In our efforts to further amend the OAV Law the paramount concern that has to be taken into account is accesibility. How do we make the registration and voting process easier and more comfortable for Filipinos who are scattered all over the world and away from foreign service posts? An intensive education campaign is only the beginning, Government has to reach out even farther and explain further why OFWs should get involved in elections.

Registration should be simplified and made more secure at the same time, and it would help if improvements in OFW monitoring were instituted resulting in twice the benefits - we would have adequate information on OFW deployment while at the same time providing our foreign service posts and the COMELEC with an adequate profile of the OAV constituency.

Modern technology has to be maximized as well, and the COMELEC has said that the introduction of internet voting is being contemplated in areas like Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy where it would cost about P25 million for every 500,000 voters compared to P52 million using snail mail.

Opportunities for registration should also be widened, not just in Philippine consulates, POEA, OWWA and the NAIA, but also Filipino organizations based abroad could also be accredited and/or deputized to help these agencies perform their functions.

Sticky issues such as voting by mail, the imposition of affidavits of an intent to return to the Philippines in three years after the elections in Section 5(t) for immigrants and permanent residents, the lack of information regarding registration requirements and procedures, should be arrested to make the law stronger, not irrelevant.

Now more than ever, with the past elections marred in so much controversy, it is the absentee votes that could put a definite swing towards greater transparency and accountability in our leadership with a process that has proven fraud-free so far. The OAV constituency is a potent force for change, having been exposed to the brand of governance advanced by other democracies, they have an idea of how things could get better here. They are literally outside looking in, and if given the opportunity, would have rather stayed here than elsewhere. It is only fitting that these OFWs be treated with respect as the heroes of the economy that they are.

Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales