MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 6, 2013) – Filipino migrants’ rights group Migrante Middle East urged officials of various Philippine diplomatic posts abroad to be nonpartisan and apolitical in the conduct of the Overseas Absentee Voting.
John Leonard Monterona, the group’s regional coordinator, said Philippine embassies and consulates must ensure the conduct of OAV, which usually begins one month ahead of election day, is honest and fraud-free.
This after Commission on Election Commissioner Lucenito Tagle proposed additional places with relatively huge numbers of overseas absentee voters under Automated Elections System (AES).
Tagle recommended to the COMELEC en banc the inclusion of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Kuwait, Jeddah, and Riyadh to the AES in addition to Singapore and Hong Kong where automated elections took place in 2010.
COMELEC records showed that registered AOVs in Abu Dhabi reached 21,418; Jeddah with 42,454 voters; Kuwait with 28,458 voters; Dubai with 30,513 voters; and Riyadh with 62,509 voters.
“There were questions raise which until now have not been properly explained on the conduct of May 2010 automated elections. Now, the COMELEC wanted to include OAV in places where there are relatively big numbers of registrants,” Monterona said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
He said automated election is not bad, but the manner how it is being conducted is not totally fraud-free and the poll results could be subjected to manipulation to favor a candidate or a party.
Monterona, however, clarified that his group will welcome a detailed proposal from the COMELEC for the inclusion of the said 5 places. “The OFWs, through their organizations and leaders, should be allowed to scrutinize the COMELEC proposed implementing rules and regulation in the conduct of automated elections abroad in line with our aim to have a fraud-free, honest, and orderly OAV,” he said.
Noting the special character of overseas absentee voting with the limitations imposed by the host governments, Monterona said Migrante Middle East will strongly suggest to the COMELEC that there must be close coordination and participation of Filipino community leaders at every posts to witness the conduct of the OAV-AES to counting of votes up to the transmittal of the election results.
“Duly accredited OFWs party-list groups must have their representatives in the election board of canvassers,” he said.
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