MANILA – Nais ng ilang kongresista na alamin ng Kamara de Representantes ang dahilan ng mababang bilang ng mga Pilipinong nasa ibang bansa na nagpatala para sa Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) upang makasali sa darating na May 2010 presidential elections.

Sa House Resolution (HR) No. 1298 na iniakda nina Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. at ABAKADA-GURO party-list Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz, nais din nilang imbestigahan ng kapulungan kung bakit konti ang mga bumoto noong 2004 at 2007 elections sa ilalim ng OAV.

Inatasan ng mga mambabatas ang House committees on suffrage and electoral reforms, foreign affairs at on overseas workers affairs, na magsagawa ng pag-aaral tungkol sa OAV.

Batay umano sa datos ng Commission on Filipinos Overseas at Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), sinabi ni Marcos na umaabot ang bilang ng mga overseas Filipino sa 8,083,815 at 8,726,520 noong 2004 at 2007, ayon sa pagkakasunod.

“Of the said totals only 359,296 and 504,124 were able to register as voters or 4.4% and 5.8% respectively. Of the total overseas registered voters, only 233,137 and 81,732 or 64.9% and 16% respectively for 2004 and 2007 were able to vote,” paliwanag ni Marcos.

Sa paglipas ng panahon, pinuna rin ng mambabatas na mas lalong bumaba ang bilang ng mga Pinoy sa abroad na nakikilahok sa pambansang halalan upang pumili ng mga lider sa posisyon ng presidente, bise presidente, senador at party-list representantive.

Para sa gaganaping 2010 elections, inihayag ni Marcos na 104,475 overseas Filipinos lamang ang nagpalista sa OAV hanggang noong Hunyo 17, 2009 o dalawang buwan bago ang deadline ng pagpaparehistro noong katapusan ng Agosto 2009.

“This number constitutes only 1.2% compared to the 2007 figure on the total qualified overseas Filipino voters and constitutes only 29% and 21% respectively compared to the 2004 and 2007 registered voters on the national elections,” puna ng kongresista.

“This deterioration of overseas Filipinos’ participation in the forthcoming 2010 national elections is worrisome,” idinagdag niya.

Inihayag naman ni Dela Cruz na hindi nakakamit ng Republic Act 9189 o mas kilala bilang “The Overseas Voting Act of 2003,” ang layunin ng batas kung patuloy na bababa ang bilang mga overseas Filipino na nagpapatala sa OAV at nakikilahok sa halalan.

“As a result of the enactment of R.A.9189 a lot of Filipinos overseas were able to exercise their right to vote in the 2004 and 2007 national elections and elected candidates of their choice for President, Vice-President, Senators and Party-List representatives,” pagdiin niya.

Sa hiwalay na panayam ng GMANews.TV, nilinaw ni De la Cruz na hindi nila intensyon na alisan ng karapatan ang mga Pinoy na nasa abroad na makasali sa proseso ng halalan.

“We still believe that our overseas Filipinos should not be denied of their right to vote,” pahayag ni De la Cruz, na dating labor attaché in Saudi Arabia.

“But it’s disappointing,” dagdag nito., “At first we thought they were interested. We have been spending a lot on this.”

Nakahanda naman umano ang Department of Foreign Affairs’ OAV Secretariat na ipaliwanag sa mga mambabatas ang resulta ng pagpapatala ng mga overseas Pinoy ngayon taon, ayon sa pinuno ng OAV secretariat na si Nelson Padalhin. – GMANews.TV

A Philippine diplomat has urged Filipinos abroad who have registered as overseas absentee voters to cast their votes in May 2010 and help select the country’s next leaders.

Ambassador Willy Gaa, the Philippine envoy to the United States, issued the challenge as the world marked International Democracy Day Tuesday.

“The right of the people to freely choose who shall lead their nation is a fundamental pillar of democracy. I would like to call on all those who registered under the OAV law to exercise that right in 2010,” Gaa said in an article posted on the Department of Foreign Affairs website (www.dfa.gov.ph).

Some 200,000 Filipinos abroad had registered as OAVs for the 2010 elections, way below the one-million goal set by the government.

Gaa said the Philippine Embassy and consulates in the United States will be launching an aggressive campaign to inform, educate and encourage registered voters to cast their votes.

“As part of our observance of International Democracy Day, we are launching a campaign to convince and encourage registered overseas absentee voters to vote,” he said.

Gaa’s call comes amid concern over the low turnout of overseas Filipinos in the 3rd OAV registration conducted worldwide from February to August this year.

Less than 235,000 have signed up, way below the one million target set by the government.

According to the DFA, the total number of overseas absentee voters, including those who registered in 2003 and 2006, is slightly more than 600,000.

Since the OAV was signed into law in 2003, figures have not been encouraging. In the 2004 national elections, only 360,000 of the more than four million qualified overseas Filipinos registered. Of this figure, only 65 percent or 233,092 cast their votes.

In the 2007 midterm elections, at least 145,000 more overseas Filipinos registered to vote, raising the total number of OAV registrants to more than 500,000. However, only 81,732 cast their ballots.

The low participation rate has sparked calls for an inquiry by two lawmakers to find out ways of encouraging better participation. - GMANews.TV

The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS) denied Thursday a migrant group’s claim that OAV funds were diverted from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to the DFA for the visit of President Arroyo to the United States last July.

In a statement released Wednesday, Migrante International chairman Gary Martinez said that the main reason why the OAV registration was stalled was because of the diversion of OAV funds – something the DFA dismissed as having “no basis in fact.”

“The DFA-OAVS has a separate budget from that of the Comelec to take care of expenses associated with OAV registration, including office supplies and materials, travel in connection with mobile registration, and information dissemination,” said the DFA in a statement Thursday.

The DFA also said that there is “no factual basis” to attribute the alleged lack of funds to the non-registration of some overseas Filipinos as voters.

“In fact, the various Philippine embassies and consulates general have adequate funds and have been proactive,” it said, adding that they have even conducted mobile registrations in more than 234 sites, apart from the numerous field registrations conducted by Philippine posts.

After seven months of OAV registration, only a total of 229,165 new OAV registrants were recorded.

There were 361,457 Filipinos registered as overseas absentee voters in 2003 and 142,667 in the 2005-2006 OAV registration. Of these, 132,820 voters were deleted from the National Registry of Overseas Absentee Voters of the Comelec for failure to vote in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

As of September 9, the DFA said that there are a total of 600,469 overseas Filipinos (371,304 old OAVoters and 229,165 new voters) eligible to vote in the May 2010 elections.

“This number was achieved following proactive efforts by the DFA and the Comelec to encourage more Filipinos abroad to register,” it said.

The DFA said these efforts include sending letters of appeal to 1,500 Filipino community organizations worldwide, aggressive media promotion in the Philippines, and various forums organized by non-governmental organizations like the Center for Migrant Advocacy and the Blas Ople Foundation.

The department said it also helped that they set up OAV registration centers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration. – Kimberly Jane Tan, GMANews.TV

Pinoys in Hong Kong raring to vote in 2010 polls

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Filipinos in Hong Kong have the highest number of overseas voter registrants with 21,905 signing up to participate in the 2010 polls.

Since February, Filipinos in this Chinese province have been the most enthusiastic about the upcoming presidential elections, consistently topping the overseas absentee voting registration.

Hong Kong is followed by:

- Los Angeles (13,205),
- Dubai (12,477),
- Singapore (11,296),
- New York (6,496)
- Riyadh (6,120)
- London (5,821),
- Tokyo (5,257),
- Taipei (5,243), and
- Toronto (4,873)

There are more than 130,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong, mostly working as domestic helpers with two-year contracts. – GMANews.TV

The number of new overseas Filipino voters for the 2010 elections failed to meet the government’s one million target, which some groups say is an indication of the prevailing cynicism among migrants on the current political climate.

When the overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration closed on Monday (Aug. 31), only 216,176 Filipinos from 97 Philippine posts all over the world registered for next year’s presidential elections.

While this figure surpassed the total number of OAV applicants in the 2007 mid-term elections, which only had 142,667 registrants, it still pales in comparison to the number of registered absentee voters in the 2004 presidential elections.

The Department of Foreign Affairs’ OAV Secretariat (OAVS) said that in 2003, when Filipinos were first given the chance to vote overseas, a total of 359,296 registered.

Ambassador Nestor Padalhin of the DFA secretariat had earlier hoped for a million overseas Filipino voters for the 2010 Philippine presidential elections as the government projected.

“It’s impossible to reach that goal at this point,” Padalhin earlier told GMANews.TV.

To reach the millionth-mark, the government should have attracted at least 167,000 new voters every month. But since the registration began in February, the number of OAV registrants has not even reached 100,000 until June.

According to Padalhin, the DFA has done everything, from talking to Filipino community leaders to aggressively promoting the registration in the media to increase the OAV figures, but new overseas voters seem elusive.

“It is likely that most Filipinos overseas have already registered to vote since 2003,” Padalhin said.

Advocacy leader Susan Ople of the Blas F. Ople Advocacy Center lauded the DFA OAVS’ efforts in bolstering the number of Filipino registrants and heightening the awareness of Pinoy migrants about the 2010 elections.

“They did a great job. Kudos to them,” she said.

However, she said, the fact remains that a big number of Filipinos are simply uninterested in the 2010 polls.

“Iniisip nila na kahit naman bumoto sila, wala namang nangyayari (They’re thinking, even if they vote, nothing will change),” she said.

She earlier said that the dismal number of overseas Filipinos who registered might also be a sign that they are bored with the roster of candidates.

“They have to titillate and excite voters,” she said. [See: 'Titillate, excite overseas Pinoys to boost OAV turnout']

Ellene Sana, executive director of the Center for Migrant Advocacy, blamed the poor OAV turnout to several technical problems in the Middle East, particularly the lack equipment to process the number of applicants.

According to her, what used to be more than 50 data-capturing machines in Saudi Arabia was reduced to less than a dozen. Sana said a fire in the Riyadh embassy several years back, has destroyed several machines, which was not fully replenished during this year’s six-month registration period.

An estimated 1.2 million Filipinos live and work in Saudi Arabia.

Extend registration

Several Philippine lawmakers have earlier tried to help the government increase the voting turnout of overseas Filipinos.

Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Satur Ocampo filed a bill in Congress seeking to move the Aug. 31 deadline to December, while Senators Manuel Villar and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. wanted to make registration centers more accessible to Filipinos in remote areas abroad.

But even Pimentel noted the “prevailing apathy” among Filipinos toward Philippine elections.

“I had the opportunity to talk with a good number of overseas Filipinos. The response to registration for absentee voting for the purpose of computerized elections was very depressing,” the minority leader said.

Aside from fears of jeopardizing their dual citizenship status, Pimentel said many Filipinos are doubtful whether their votes will be counted following the “Hello Garci” controversy in 2004.

“I had to tell them that their votes can actually make a difference. If only a significant proportion of overseas Filipinos will exercise their voting right, they can be a swing vote in the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial elections,” he said. – Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV

MANILA – Umabot sa 4,302 aplikasyon ng mga Pinoy na nasa ibang bansa para sa overseas absentee voting (OAV) kaugnay sa 2010 elections ang hindi inaprubahan ng Commission on Elections.

Gayunman, inihayag ni James Jimenez, tagapagsalita ng Comelec, na umabot naman sa 115,831 aplikasyon ang inaprubahan ng komisyon.

Ayon kay Jimenez, karamihan sa mga hindi nakalusot na aplikasyon ay galing sa mga immigrants na hindi makapagbigay ng garantiya na babalik sila sa Pilipinas matapos makaboto “in absentia.”

Nakasaad sa OAV guide na inihanda ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), na aaprubahan ang aplikasyon ng mga Pilipinong immigrant o permanent resident sa bansa na kinaroroonan nila kung makagagawa sila ng affidavit na magbibigay katiyakan na babalik sila sa Pilipinas sa loob ng tatlong taon matapos na maaprubahan ang kanilang aplikasyon sa OAV.

Sinabi ni Jimenez na hanggang nitong Agosto 26, umabot sa 201,328 ang nagsumite ng aplikasyon sa OAV mula sa mga Pinoy na nasa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng mundo.

Pinabulaanan din ng tagapagsalita ng Comelec ang alegasyon ng Migrante International na mabagal ang Comelec sa pag-apruba ng mga aplikasyon sa OAV.

Ayon sa Migrante, dalawang beses lang umanong nagpulong ang Resident Election Registration Board (RERB) ng Comelec ngayong taon, at umabot lang sa 17,000 aplikasyon ang kanilang inaprubahan.

“The COMELEC’s RERB have conducted five hearings already; and contrary to the claims of Migrante, the RERB have acted upon 115,831 applications for OAV registration,” depensa ni Jimenez.

Idinagdag niya na regular na nagpupulong bawat buwan ang RERB simula noong Abril at ipagpapatuloy ito hanggang sa Oktubre 2009.

Nakatakdang magtapos ang aplikasyon sa OAV sa Agosto 31 (araw sa Pilipinas).

Lumitaw na pinakamaraming aplikasyon sa OAV ang galing sa United States of America (USA) na umabot sa 29,595; kasunod ang China (21,204) at United Arab Emirates (15,164). – GMANews.TV

YANBU, Saudi Arabia – Patuloy na nakararamdan ng alinlangan ang ilang overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) sa bansang ito kung magagamit nila ang kanilang karapatan na bumoto sa 2010 elections sa pamamagitan ng Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).

Nakatakdang magtapos sa Agosto 30 ang pagpaparehistro sa OAV ng mga kuwalipikadong Pinoy na nasa labas ng Pilipinas upang makaboto sa posisyon ng presidente, bise presidente, senador at party-list representatives.

Gayunman, pinaigting ng mga kinatawan ng embahada at konsulada ng Pilipinas sa Saudi ang kampanya para maparehistro ang mga bagong botante.

Sa Saudi Arabia, lingo-lingo nang dumarayo ang ilan sa mga tauhan ng embahada sa kanilang mga nasasakupan upang magproseso ng mga bagong botante. Naging matagumpay naman ang pagsisikap ng embahada dahil maraming bagong botante ang nagpatala sa Altawhid International School sa Yanbu.

Sinabi ni Elsa Masa, miyembro ng OAV Mobile team, mahigit 500 OFWs ang dumating at nagpatala sa loob lamang ng dalawang araw.

Katuwang ng mga opisyal ng embahada ang mga Filipino Community group sa Saudi sa pangunguna ni Rey Vicencio at Alpha Phi Omega Alumni Association ng Western Region Yanbu.

Kasama rin sa mga nag-oorganisa ng pagpaparehistro sina Larry Cabagon at Nelly Manayao na nag-aasikaso sa mga OFW tulad ng paghahatid at pagsundo sa mga walang sasakyan, nagbibigay ng inumin at pagtulong sa pagpapapirma ng mga registration form.

Ang Yanbu ay isang industriyalisadong lungsod sa kanlurang bahagi ng Saudi Arabia at may layong 340 kilometro mula sa Jeddah kung saan matatagpuan konsulado ng Pilipinas na pagdarausan ng botohan.

Dahil sa layo ng lugar, hindi maiwasan ng ilang OFW na nagparehistro na magtanong kung makakaboto sila sa takdang panahon dahil na rin sa layo ng lugar na pagbobotohan nila.

Si Rico Fuerte, tubong Iloilo, nangangamba na baka masayang lang ang kanyang paghihirap sa malayong pagbiyahe upang magparehistro kung hindi naman sila makakaboto.

“Gusto naming bumoto kaya kami nagpaparehistro (kala lang) baka masayang lang itong pagpila (sa pagpaparehistro),” pahayag ni Fuerte dahil sa distansiya ng pagdarausan ng botohan.

Pakiusap ng OFW, gumawa ng paraan ang embahada upang matiyak na lahat ng nagpatala sa OAV ay makakaboto saan man lugar sila nandoon.

Iminungkahi naman ni Emily Orsales na magpadala ng kinatawan ang Commission ong Election sa Yanbu para marami ang makaboto sa halip na papuntahin sila sa Jeddah.

Ang mungakhi Orsales ay sinuportahan ni Marietta Llarena na nagpahayag na nagawa ng embahada na magtungo sa kanilang lugar para sila makapagparehistro, kaya puwede rin silang bumalik sa Yanbu para matiyak na makaboboto sila. – Ronaldo Z. Concha, GMANews.TV

OVERSEAS VOTE. Filipinos in the Chinese province of Hong Kong endure long lines to vote in the 2004 elections. photo courtesy of Daphne Ceniza/ CMA

MANILA, Philippines – To entice more participants in the absentee voting exercise, lawmakers are calling for amendments to the law on overseas voting, including bringing registration centers closer to overseas Filipinos.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. want to encourage more Filipinos abroad by putting up mobile registration centers in areas with huge concentration of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and conducting pre-departure registration in international airports and seaports in the country.

Villar is a known OFW advocate and has come out with a series of public advertisements detailing his assistance to distressed migrants. He is said to be hoping for the OFW vote to help him in his presidential bid next year. [See: Months before campaign, politicians test the power of 'advocacy ads']

The bill aims to set up mobile voter registration centers in provinces and cities that are too far away from designated Philippine posts where a Filipino could sign up.

In filing Senate Bill 2333, Pimentel hopes registration centers would be set up in countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Canada and the United States where Philippine posts are few despite a high concentration of Filipinos.

Robert Tan, an OFW in Edmonton, Canada wrote GMANews.TV to complain that thousands of Filipinos there find it difficult to register for the 2010 polls because the nearest registration center is in Vancouver, which is some 800 kilometers away.

“I was so excited when I read about this OAV,” Tan said, “but to my dismay, the Consul told me they do not accept voter registration in our area where a few thousand Filipinos are living.”

A similar problem faces Filipinos in Saudi Arabia where only three posts – Riyadh, Al Khobar and Jeddah – were assigned to process an estimated 1.3 million qualified absentee voters.

On top of that, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ OAV Secretariat admitted that there are less than 12 functioning data capturing machines that could process the applicants.

Since the OAV was signed into law in 2003, figures have not been encouraging. In the 2004 elections, only 360,000 of the more than 4 million qualified overseas Filipinos registered. Of this figure, only 65 percent or 233,092 cast their votes.

In the 2007 elections, Pimentel cited records that showed only 503,000 overseas Filipinos registered with a mere 21 percent or 81,732 casting their ballots.

“The sharp decline in the actual voting was partly explained by the fact that the last political exercise did not entail voting for the president and vice president,” Pimentel added.

As of Friday, only 130, 686 overseas Filipinos have registered to vote for the 2010 polls, a far-cry from the 1 million new absentee voters targeted by the government.

But even if the DFA meets the target, the Comelec would still trim down the number of voters after a rigorous screening process.

With over eight million of them scattered throughout the globe, overseas Filipinos could help decide the result of national elections. But after the dismal turnout of registrants, Pimentel is worried that the OAV will be nothing more but an expensive exercise.

DETERMINED. Although Saudi Arabia is home to 1.3 million Filipinos, only a few thousand registered and voted there in 2004 and 2007. File photo courtesy of Mike Bolos/ CMA

Doubtful Pinoy voters

In his recent trip to the Netherlands, Pimentel noted the “prevailing apathy” among Filipinos toward Philippine elections.

“I had the opportunity to talk with a good number of overseas Filipinos. The response to registration for absentee voting for the purpose of computerized elections was very depressing,” the minority leader said.

Aside from fears of jeopardizing their dual citizenship status, Pimentel said many Filipinos are doubtful whether their votes will be counted following the “Hello Garci” controversy in 2004.

“I had to tell them that their votes can actually make a difference. If only a significant proportion of overseas Filipinos will exercise their voting right, they can be a swing vote in the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial elections,” he said.

Beyond the perceived lack of interest in Philippine politics, overseas Pinoys who don’t want to vote seem simply uninspired.

Greg Macabenta, a syndicated journalist and national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, said Filipino migrants have yet to realize that they are a powerful force to be reckoned with in Philippine politics.

“Right now, overseas Filipinos still see no one in the Philippines who can inspire them with respect to the 2010 elections,” he told GMANews.TV just after Barack Obama won the 2008 US elections. [See: Obama's victory showed overseas Pinoys the power of the vote]

The essential principles of electoral participation as well as equality before the law were held by Filipino migrants in high esteem, said a recently published study by German researchers Dr. Christl Kessler and Stefan Rother.

However, when they asked 1,000 overseas Filipino worker (OFW) returnees from the Middle East and East Asia, they discovered that while migrants are determined to exercise their democratic right to vote, they also become more critical of the Philippines after having been abroad.

Filipinos who come from states, which the Freedom House Index identifies as democratic – Japan and Taiwan – and authoritarian – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong – often feel alienated.

“I myself am a Filipino, but I don’t give a damn about this country,” a 24-year-old Dubai respondent was quoted saying. – GMANews.TV

Jul 14, 2009 | 03:07 PM

MANILA, Philippines — Needing to get more than 800,000 Filipinos overseas to register as overseas absentee voters (OAVs) in less than two months, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is tapping at least two religious groups and one migrant group to get the job done.

The Comelec said it will tap the Iglesia ni Cristo, the Jesus is Lord Church and Migrante International to help in its campaign to increase the turnout of OAV registrants.

“In order for us to achieve our goal of one million OAV registrants for the May 10, 2010 elections, we need the help of Filipino groups and religious organizations to encourage the widest number of our kababayans to exercise their right to vote,” Comelec chairman Jose Melo said on the Comelec blog site (http://bagongbotante.ph/eidblog/2009/07/13/comelec-to-tap-inc-jil-migrante-to-encourage-ofws-to-register/).

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they will send letters to the three groups and seek their help to promote the ongoing OAV registration.

Jimenez said they will also ask the groups to encourage their congregations, chapters and members to register.

“The Comelec is humbly seeking their (INC, JIL, Migrante) support in this endeavor by helping promote the ongoing OAV registration and encouraging all of their overseas congregations, chapters and members to register at Philippine embassies and consulates worldwide before the August 31 deadline,” Melo added.

Registration for OAVs will end on August 31. OAV applicants need only present their passports (for land-based applicants) and seaman’s books (for seafarers) to facilitate their registration.

Last July 1, an entry on the Comelec blog quoted Jimenez as saying that as of June 26, there are some 115,635 OAV registrants.

“The number – which is reasonably high, considering a range of unavoidable limitations overseas – is very encouraging. It motivates us further to heighten our coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs and overseas Filipino groups worldwide to step up our campaign to encourage wider electoral participation among our compatriots abroad,” said Jimenez.

However, the Comelec also said in its July 1 entry that the total number of approved Filipino OAVs is only 17,061.

Data from the DFA’s Overseas Absentee Voters Secretariat (OAVS) showed that in the 2004 elections, there were about 365,000 registered overseas Pinoy voters, but only 233,092, or 65 percent, actually voted.

In 2007, the number of registered voters rose to 503,896 registering but, only 81,732, or 21 per cent, cast their ballots.. - GMANews.TV

Jul 10, 2009 | 07:00 PM

MANILA – Lumalakas ang suporta ng mga kongresista sa mungkahi na palawigin ang registration period ng mga overseas Filipino workers para sa Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) upang makaboto sila sa 2010 presidential elections.

Sa magkakahiwalay na panayam nitong Biyernes, sinabi nina Reps. Joel Villanueva (Cibac), Mujiv Hataman (AMIN) at Juan Edgardo Angara (Aurora), nararapat na bigyan ng karagdagang panahon ng Commission on Elections (Coemelec) ang mga OFW na makapagparehistro upang hindi sila ma-disenfranchise.

Naniniwala ang mga kongresista na masyadong maigsi ang itinakdang panahon ng Comelec para makapagparehistro ng mga OFW na magtatapos sa Agosto 31. (Basahin: Anong Say Mo sa Absentee Voting?)

“Since the commission is targeting one million overseas absentee voters, it is only correct and appropriate to make the August 31 deadline extended until December,” pahayag ni Villanueva, miyembro ng House committees on overseas and workers affairs at suffrage and electoral reforms.

Nangangamba naman ni Hataman, kasapi rin ng committee on overseas workers affairs, na baka hindi makamit ng Comelec ang target na 1 milyong botante sa overseas absentee voting kung tatapusin kaagad sa Agosto ang pagpapatala.

“We have to give more time to OFW’s who are usually having troubles with their busy schedules, let’s give them enough time so that they can find opportunity to register,” paliwanag niya.

Nakatanggap naman umano ng impormasyon si Angara na hindi sapat ang information campaign ng Comelec at Department of Foreign Affairs upang mabigyan ng kaalaman ang mga OFW tungkol sa karapatan nilang bumoto.

Bukod pa rito, inirereklamo rin umano ng ilang OFWs na hindi akma sa kanilang schedule ng day-off ang itinakdang araw ng pagpaparehistro ng Comelec kaya marami sa kanilang ang hindi nakapupunta sa mga lugar kung saan sila puwedeng magpatala.

“Hindi naman siguro malaking problema sa Comelec kung mag-extend sila ng registration period kahit ilang buwan lang upang matiyak na hindi sila maaalisan ng karapatan na bumoto,” ayon sa kongresista.

Sa ilalim ng OAV Act, ang mga OFW at iba pang Pinoy na nasa ibang bansa ay maaaring bumoto sa posisyon ng presidente, bise presidente at party-list representantives.

Naghain na si Bayan Muna party list Rep. Satur Ocampo ng House Resolution (HR) No. 1249 upang hilingin sa Comelec na habaan ang panahon ng pagpaparehistro ng mga OFW.

“The Comelec and DFA-OAVS (Department of Foreign Affairs-Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat) need more time to realistically attain their target of one million overseas absentee voters and make up for all the constraints and shortcomings in the implementation of the project,” nakasaad sa resolusyon.

Batay umano sa talaan ng Comelec, sinabi ni Ocampo na umabot lamang sa 85,784 ang bilang ng mga OFW na nagpatala mula Pebrero hanggang Mayo 27, 2009.

Idinagdag sa ulat na 120,000 ang kabuuang bilang ng nagpatalang OFWs hanggang nitong unang bahagi ng Hulyo. – GMANews.TV

Pinoys in HK raring to vote

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Filipinos in Hong Kong have the highest number of overseas voter registrants with 12,347 signing up to participate in the 2010 polls as of July 8.

Since February, Filipinos in this Chinese province have been the most enthusiastic about the upcoming presidential elections, having consistently topped the overseas absentee voting registration.

Hong Kong is followed by:

Los Angeles (7,578),
Dubai (6,947),
Singapore (5, 483),
London (4,454),
Toronto (3, 837),
Riyadh (3, 538)
Tokyo (3,121) and
Washington (3, 037)

Hong Kong has more than 130,000 Filipinos, mostly working as domestic helpers with two-year contracts. – GMANews.TV

MANILA, Philippines – Unless next month’s registration deadline for overseas voters is moved, a militant lawmaker foresees the government’s failure to have a million new absentee voters for the 2010 elections.

Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Satur Ocampo filed House Resolution No. 1249 seeking to move the August 31 deadline to December 15 to give Filipinos abroad enough time to register for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).

Quoting earlier reports by GMANews.TV, the lawmaker said that it is impossible for the government to get 1 million absentee voters since it should have had at least 166,666 registrants every month since the registration opened last February.

But as of Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs’ OAV Secretariat reported that only 127,758 are registered to vote for the 2010 polls. If the government is determined to meet the 1-million target, it would need 872,242 overseas registrants.

“The House of Representatives call on the Commission on Elections to extend the registration … in order to substantially increase the participation of overseas Filipinos in the May 10, 2010 national elections,” Ocampo appealed in the proposed resolution.

With over eight million of them scattered throughout the globe, overseas Filipinos could help decide the result of the 2010 national elections. After Congress approved the OAV in 2003, about 300,000 Filipinos abroad have registered to vote in the two-month registration period.

But this number dipped in 2006 when only 142,000 Filipinos registered in the 13-month registration period for the 2007 elections.

“I don’t know why that happened,” said Ambassador Nestor Padalhin of the OAV Secretariat, “The rest of the Filipinos might have already registered so the numbers went down.”

Padalhin earlier told GMANews.TV that the Filipinos’ infamous “hasta mañana” habit should be blamed for the dismal number of registrants. [See: Pinoys' 'mañana' habit blamed for poor OAV registration turnout]

Unlikely excuse

Representative Ocampo, however, believes that Padalhin’s explanation was “an unlikely excuse” for the DFA Secretariat’s own shortcomings.

On November 27, 2008, Ocampo said, the Comelec promulgated Resolution No. 8556 that reset the OAV registration from December 1, 2008 to February 1, 2009 “since most of the Posts’ personnel assigned to handle the registration were new appointees without the necessary technical competence on the data-capturing machines (DCMs).

“The DFA-OAVS, averred that the transmittal of reports had been delayed and cited budgetary constraints such that ‘there is little time to plan the reallocation and redistribution of existing DCMs and peripherals as well as sourcing of new ones to send the needed DCMs and peripherals to Posts concerned,’” Ocampo said in his resolution.

But Padalhin stressed that they have done their best to increase the number of voters through aggressive media campaigns. The DFA official told GMANews.TV that they have recently wrote letters to various Filipino community leaders all over the world to help them increase the turnout.

Ocampo is urging his fellow lawmakers to approve the resolution to help the Comelec and the DFA-OAVs to implement aggressive campaigns and mobile registration mechanisms in countries where large Filipino communities live or work far from the diplomatic posts, such as in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Italy, and elsewhere.

Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer told GMANews.TV however, that the OAV registration deadline would remain and there are no plans yet to move it. – Joseph Holandes Ubalde, GMANews.TV