More OFWs given right to vote

By: Maria Laarni Mallari

With the aim to give more Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) a chance to vote, the House of Representatives approved for a final reading a “bill amending Republic Act 9189” or thr Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003.

Lone district of Dasmarinas City Repreentative Elpidio Barzaga Jr., Chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, says that the ill aims to make registration for absentee voting more accessible to OFWs by “setting up field and mobile registration centers.”

Second District of Bohol Representative Erico Aumentado, author of House Bill 3966, said the bill would expand the coverage of RA 9189 by allowing OFWs to vote not only in national elections but also in all “national referenda and plebiscites.”

Akbayan Party-list Representative Walden Bello (Party-list, Akbayan), another author of the bill, said the bill would allow OFWs who have dual citizenship to vote without renouncing their allegiance to the other country.

"The measure shall be more effective, far reaching and voter friendly to overseas Filipinos," Bello said.

According o the bill, Comelec will be mandated to explore more efficient and secure systems for the registration and the actual election.

Aumentado also said that there are at least 3.6 million qualified voters overseas. "Out of this figure, 589,830 were registered voters while only 153,323 actually voted, broken down as follows: 39,564 voted by mail, 64,743 voted manually or in person and 49,016 voted through automation."

"The present law provides for the voting by mail to only three countries. This limitation effectively disenfranchises many OFWs abroad," Aumentado added.

The bill also aims to expand the three modes of voting personal voting, voting by mail and any other means allowed by “Section 52(1) of Batas Pambansa 881 as amended on the Omnibus Election Code.”

According to the bill, pre-departure registration shall be conducted in the governemtn offices determined b the Comelec.

Barzaga says, “Overseas Filipino workers may file their application personally at any post or at designated registration centers in the Philippines approved by the COMELEC and shall submit themselves for live capture of their biometrics.”