Comelec urged to extend list-up of overseas voters

Presidential adviser on overseas Filipino communities Heherson Alvarez urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to extend the registration period for Filipinos voting abroad for another 30 days.

Voters registration for overseas Filipinos started Aug. 1 and will end on Sept. 30. However, Alvarez noted the low turnout of voters and recommended the extension of the registration period to Oct. 30.

In a petition-letter submitted to Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, Alvarez said the one-month extension would allow more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to register and vote in the May 2004 elections.

Citing records obtained from the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Alvarez said that as of Tuesday, or over a month since the registration started last Aug. 1, only 89,688 voters have registered in the government’s 81 embassies, three consular offices and three satellite stations all over the world.

"This is a mere 5.28 percent of the total estimated target of 1.7 million potential voters. We are then short by 94.72 percent and we only have 28 days for the registration. It is imperative that the registration period be extended to make the Overseas Absentee Voting Law a historic, meaningful and significant democratic process for our country and people," Alvarez explained.

In meetings with Filipino communities abroad, Alvarez noted that most registration centers such as embassies and consulates were far from residences and workplaces of OFWs. To register, the OFWs will have to file leaves of absence from work and risk losing a day’s pay.

"OFWs also encounter strict or uncooperative employers who refuse to give them days off, as well host countries that are not receptive to democratic processes such as elections, which are not practiced or are banned by their governments," Alvarez added.

There are only 360 computers now being used by the Comelec in registration abroad, which are shuffled and shared between embassies and consulates. He stressed that the 30-day extension will allow more time for the government to intensify its information campaign on the mechanics of the absentee voting law to the 7.53 million Filipinos spread over more than 200 countries worldwide.

Alvarez himself has been urging overseas Filipinos to register and vote in the May 2004 elections. He said it would be a pity if Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act "would go to waste" because of the indifference of Filipinos to this landmark law.

The country’s 7.5 million OFWs, Alvarez said, will have to do their "patriotic duty" and should take part in the changing landscape of our country’s democratic history.

Alvarez pointed out that the government also needed more time to study the implementation of Republic Act 9225 or the Citizenship Retention and Reacquisition Act of 2003, which was signed into law by President Arroyo on Aug. 29. Its benefits, effects and concerns vis-a-vis the Overseas Absentee Voting Law should also be studied, Alvarez said.

Of the 7.53 million Filipinos abroad, 3.15 million are OFWs; 2.78 million are permanent residents, immigrants and citizens of other countries; and 1.6 million are undocumented workers.

Of this number, the DFA estimates that around 1.75 million are eligible to vote in the coming elections — 937,532 from the Middle East and Africa; 876,982 from the United States; 684,557 from the Asia-Pacific region; and 259,803 from Europe.