THE Philippine diaspora is massive and extensive: there is no continent on earth, and no major ocean where huge ships sail, which does not host an overseas Filipino worker (OFW).
If there are teams of scientists doing projects in Antarctica, most likely there will be a Filipino worker in the team itself or in the support staff. Such is the global presence of Filipinos.
Statistics show that in 2021, there were 1.83 million overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and although they were qualified to vote, many of them were not registered voters.
Sen. Francis Tolentino, who has been advocating electoral reforms in the country since his days as mayor of Tagaytay City, said that during last year’s presidential election, only 626,000 out of the 1.6 million registered overseas absentee voters were able to cast their ballots–equivalent to only 39 percent of voters’ turnout.
‘Internet voting for OFWs abroad may well be one of the useful tweaks in Philippine electoral exercise.’
In the 18th Congress in January 2021, it was Sen. Tolentino who first appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to devise a more convenient way for OFWs–Filipino seafarers in particular–to exercise their respective voting rights. The senator then noted that Filipino seafarers have been deprived of their right to vote in the past elections since they are at sea most of the time.
While the current process allows seafarers to vote by going to the nearest embassy or consular post during the 30-day voting period, Tolentino stressed that most seafarers are at sea for six months, which is the usual duration of their respective contracts.
In the Middle East, Filipinos live and work thousands of kilometers from the consulates and embassies where voting precincts are located, and many could not get a day off from work just to vote. This was partially remedied by allowing voting by mail in certain host countries.
In the midterm elections of 2025, the Comelec will go one step further by pilot-testing internet voting for OFWs. The poll body believes that allowing migrant Filipino workers to vote in the most convenient way will definitely encourage them to exercise their constitutional right to suffrage and choose their preferred leaders who will lead the country in the next three to six years.
Comelec chairman George Garcia, in a statement, said there is no need for a new law to authorize internet voting for registered overseas absentee voters, since the poll body “promulgate rules and regulations and consequently, implement other means of overseas voting that are more reliable, secure, and efficient.”
The poll body headed by Garcia has shown its openness to adopting new innovations and processes that could speed-up the voting process, maintain accuracy and fairness in the vote count, transmission, and reporting, and engage the people with respect and justice.
Internet voting for OFWs abroad may well be one of the useful tweaks in Philippine electoral exercise.
