Arroyo assures Filipinos abroad they’ll be heard come May

President Arroyo assured overseas Filipinos yesterday that they would be able to vote in the May 10 elections if they had registered as required under the Absentee Voting Act.

"The right of overseas Filipinos to choose their leaders has both a symbolic and practical significance," she said in a statement from Malacañang.

"It binds them to the national future as it allows them to participate in the mandate of governance," she added.

Mrs. Arroyo said concerned government agencies led by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will ensure that the 360,000 overseas Filipinos who registered as "absentee voters" will be able to exercise their right of suffrage on May 10.

"All eligible overseas Filipinos must be able to vote in the forthcoming polls, and I urge the Comelec to map out a feasible plan for this and inform our people about it," she said.

"This is part of our fight for change that must include every Filipino abroad and his family back home."

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said the electronic transmission of the results of absentee voting will still be implemented despite the Supreme Court decision voiding a contract on automated elections. The decision does not cover the electronic transmission aspect of the poll body’s modernization program, he added.

Abalos said the Comelec will help the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) implement the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. A board of election inspectors will be sent to places with a large absentee voting population, like Hong Kong, Rome, and the Middle East, he added.

Abalos said the outcome of absentee votes will be electronically transmitted "fraud-free" to the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila via sattelite from the various Philippine embassies and consulates.

Overseas Filipinos can only vote for president, vice president, the 12 senators, and party-list representatives, he added.

Meanwhile, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said yesterday overseas Filipinos may not be able to vote on May 10 as there might not be funds for absentee voting.

"We might not be able to implement absentee voting as there is no money (for it)," he told reporters at a forum in Quezon City yesterday.

On the other hand, former presidential adviser on overseas Filipino communities Heherson Alvarez said the Comelec and the DFA should act swiftly in the "precious little time left to meet the requirements" of the Absentee Voting Act.

"No effort to be spared to implement the absentee voting program," he said. "If it is scuttled, it would be terribly disappointing for the thousands of Filipinos abroad who made sacrifices just to be able to register for this historic event. We should do everything to prevent their disenfranchisement." GMA endorsed

Meanwhile, several youth organizations have endorsed the candidacy of Mrs. Arroyo for her "experience, track record and background" in government.

"President Arroyo is the only one who manages to present a concrete and viable youth agenda," said Melvin Mitra, convenor and chairman of Peace for Development (P4D). "Her good faith was shown by her numerous programs on youth welfare, education and economic development, and poverty alleviation."

Mitra said P4D is comprised of representatives from youth groups in Metro Manila, Federation of Sangguniang Kabataan, and Student Councils from major universities.

"The Peace 4 Dev believes that young people has a stake in nation-building and possess actual power for changing society," he said. "Being a solid resevoir of material forces for social transformation, the sector prove its worth in EDSA." — With Mike Frialde, Sammy Santos, Cecille Suerte Felipe