DBM hit for removing overseas absentee voting budget

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay expressed yesterday his disappointment in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)’s decision to scrap the P89.6- million allocation for overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration in the 2015 budget.

Binay, presidential adviser on OFW concerns, appealed to members of Congress to reinstate the allotment.

“I am deeply disappointed by this development. Such a decision is a disservice to our millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who help sustain our economy. It violates their constitutional right to vote and the provisions of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act,” he said.

Binay said the DBM should “explain its basis for such a unilateral and arbitrary decision.”

During the budget hearing in the House of Representatives on Thursday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said its proposed budget for OAV registration was not included by the DBM in the Comelec’s 2015 budget in the National Expenditure Program.

Lawmakers have also previously slammed Budget Secretary Florencio Abad over his decision to scrap the P89.6 million OAV budget.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act, considered a milestone upon its passage in 2003, recognized the right of Filipino migrants to vote.

The law covers some 10.5 million Filipino migrants spread across 238 countries all over the world.