Long-distance votes

Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them. This is the basic principle in a democratic and republican state. The commonly accepted and conventional means of exercising this sovereignty is through suffrage. But in our country, another mode has been tried and proven to be effective and thus recognized as valid and legal. This is "people power," an extraordinary and indigenous concoction that has gained worldwide admiration as to be replicated in other parts of the globe. "People power" is one clear sign that in our democracy, suffrage does not always serve its purpose. Yet "people power" being an extraordinary remedy, can not be resorted to every time our citizens are dissatisfied or feel that their voice has not been heard nor their sovereign will followed. Indeed another people power should be avoided as much as possible. Suffrage should be the citizens’ primary tool. It should therefore be honed in such a way as to serve its real objective of finding out the real voice of the people.

Suffrage is both a privilege and a duty of all citizens. It is exercised by casting a vote through secret balloting in the following activities: election, plebiscite, referendum, and initiative. Election is the act of regularly choosing the officials who will run the government for a fixed or definite period. Plebiscite is the vote of the citizens expressing their choice for or against a certain revision in the constitution. Referendum is the act of the people in adopting or rejecting a measure passed by the legislative body. Initiative is the power to propose bills or laws or constitutional amendments independent of the legislative body. Our most common activity is admittedly the election which we have almost every three years. An example of the plebiscite is when we ratified the 1987 Constitution while that of a referendum are the votes taken from the people concerned every time a municipality is converted into a city or a barangay is converted into a municipality, or a new barangay is created. People’s initiative was tried before through the "Cha-Cha" but it didn’t fly because its enabling law was declared unconstitutional. Also installed by a law is the system of recall whereby another local election is conducted before the expiration of the term of an elected official simply by means of a petition filed by other group of officials entrusted with the power of recall. Lately, the legality of this system has been placed in doubt precisely because it is seen as a purely political subterfuge subject to abuse.

To be truly meaningful, suffrage should be open to all those entitled to exercise it and that their votes once expressed are really counted. Under the Constitution, suffrage is, as a general rule exercised by all citizens including some who live here but who may not be in their usual place of residence, as well as those who dwell abroad. These group of citizens are categorized as "absentees" still entitled to exercise the right of suffrage. In their case, it is the intention to return to their true fixed and permanent home, and not their factual place of abode, which is more important.

For those who live here but are not in the places where they are registered, there is already a law (R.A. 7166) that provides for absentee voting in the election of the President, Vice President and Senators. These absentees are limited to the members of the AFP and the PNP as well as other government officers and employees who are duly registered voters but who on election day are temporarily assigned elsewhere in connection with the performance of election duties.

For our citizens who dwell abroad, the Constitution itself mandates Congress to provide for a system of absentee voting by qualified Filipinos (Sec2 Art. V). Fortunately for these 7.1 million overseas Filipinos, both Houses have finally passed absentee voting bills that enfranchise them to exercise this right. After more than 15 years of waiting, the light at the end of the tunnel is at least already visible. But the gleam in that light is not enough. Enfranchisement is not as important as the proper and accurate determination the will of the franchisees. The absentee voting law is no guarantee of the full and proper exercise of the right of suffrage by our overseas brethren. Given the kind of elections we conduct and the manner of counting we undertake, with all the guns, goons and gold, and the tried and tested formula of "dagdag-bawas" as well as the seeming ineptness of our electoral commission, our countrymen abroad may be just disillusioned and embittered if we can not count the local votes properly and correctly, there is no way that those votes cast by long distance will be insulated from the pernicious counting and canvassing processes tolerated here. Before implementing this absentee voting bill if it is enacted into law, our overseas brethren must be convinced of the credibility of the elections conducted here.

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