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By Efren L. Danao, Senior
Reporter
Senate President Manuel Villar
and Minority Leader Aquilino “Nene” Q. Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban)
have introduced Senate Bill 2333, an amendatory bill to correct the
flaws in the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 (Republic Act
9189), and enable more Filipinos abroad to exercise their right of
suffrage.
Senate Bill 2333 provides that
qualified overseas Filipinos, including seafarers, will have the
option to vote either personally or by mail or by any other means as
may be allowed by law.
Previously, voting by mail was
allowed only in three countries, including the United States.
When R.A. 9189 was enacted, there
were high hopes that the estimated four million overseas Filipinos
who had been exposed to the sophisticated brand of politics abroad
would be a meaningful force in the election of highly qualified and
competent officials.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, then
chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and principal
author of the law, had predicted that the law would give overseas
Filipinos the swing votes in tight contests, because of their big
number.
However, the stringent provisions
introduced as precautions against frauds like personal appearance,
except in three countries where voting by mail was allowed, has made
the participation of overseas Filipinos in elections less than
expected.
The Joint Congressional Oversight
Committee on Absentee Voting had previously identified the law’s
requirement for personal registration and voters as the main
deterrent for seafarers’s exercise of their right of suffrage.
This was also true in big countries like Saudi Arabia where
Filipinos had to incur big expenses to register and vote in far-away
Philippine consulates or embassies.
In the 2004 elections, there only
364,187 registered voters, of which 233,092 actually voted.
The number of registered voters
grew to 503,896 in the 2007 election, but the number of actual
voters went down to 81,732 or just 16 percent.
Villar and Pimentel said that
allowing voting and registration by mail, and the provision for
field and mobile registration in their amendatory bill would make
the registration and voting centers more accessible and enable more
Filipinos abroad to vote in succeeding elections.
Pre-departure registration shall
likewise be conducted in accredited government agencies or
facilities to be determined by the Commission on Elections.
Their bill will also allow
qualified Filipinos overseas to vote not only for president, vice
president, senators and party-list representatives, but also in all
national referenda and plebiscites.
Another key provision of their
bill repeals the previous requirement for registrants to execute an
affidavit declaring their intention to return to the Philippines
within three years. The Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat had
said this requirement deters immigrants from registering.
Instead of submitting a
declaration of intent to return, applicants who will avail
themselves of the Dual Citizenship law are required to merely
present the original or certified true copy of their application to
retain or reaquire his Filipino citizenship, or his identification
certificate issued by the Bureau of Immigration.
The bill is being supported by
migrant worker and migrant advocate groups, said Ellene Sana, of the
non-government organization Center for Migrant Advocacy, in a letter
emailed to fellow advocates and the media.
Her organization is with the
International Coalition for the Overseas Filipinos Voting Rights,
that count as members the Filipino Migrant Workers, Global Filipino
Nation, Pinoy Koop Worldwide, Economic Resource Center for Overseas
Filipinos, United Kingdom-based Phil-Jury, and the Commission on
Filipinos Overseas.
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