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The opposition has thrown a wild pitch by insinuating
that Philippine diplomats would take part in a conspiracy to doctor
the results of the overseas absentee voting to favor administration
candidates. The insinuation was vehemently denied by election and
foreign affairs officials last week, who maintained that the foreign
service would not risk sullying its image by engaging in partisan
politics.
Two opposition senatorial
candidates claimed that envoys appointed by the President would find
it difficult to resist pressure to help her bets win. That, we
believe, does the Department of Foreign Affairs a great disservice.
To cast aspersions on its integrity weakens its standing in the
international diplomatic community.
The DFA and the Comelec have
given their assurance that safeguards are in place to shield the
absentee voting process against manipulation. We take their word for
it. Right now the bigger concern is how to entice more Filipino
migrants abroad to vote.
The initial results of absentee
voting, which started last Saturday, are for from encouraging.
Turnout has been dismally low, but election officials hope it would
pick up as the month-long process progresses.
Many Filipino migrants have
indicated that they want a say in choosing the leaders back home.
But for the majority of them, voting could be a tedious exercise.
First of all, the ballots to be mailed are available only in the
embassies or consulates. That complicates things for an OFW in a
construction site in Alkobar in Saudi Arabia. He will not journey a
hundred kilometers to the capital Riyadh, where our embassy is
located, just to get hold of a ballot.
It could also be a hassle for
sea-based workers who can vote only when their ship docks.
No wonder only a small percentage
of the 500,000 or so registered absentee voters is expected to cast
their ballot in the midterm elections. That’s a lot of votes down
the drain.
Voting via the Internet is an
attractive way to make more Filipinos abroad participate in the
electoral process. For one, it is faster and simpler than voting by
mail. It also dramatically reduces the possibility of fraud.
The Comelec in fact had embraced
Internet voting and had signed a P23.5-million contract to launch it
in Singapore. It had singled out Singapore as a pilot site because
there are close to 27,000 Filipino migrants there and the Internet
is easily accessible.
But the Comelec had to abruptly
change its plans after the legality of electronic voting was
questioned by Sen. Richard Gordon and several other personalities.
As things stand, Filipinos in Singapore could still cast their
ballots electronically but they won’t be counted in the official
tally.
The Comelec must iron out the
legal issues over Internet voting right after the May 14 elections.
It must waste no time putting an electronic voting system in place
for the presidential election in 2010.
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