OFWs warn of ‘controlled remittances’

Groups of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) served warning that they will control remittances into the Philippines should Congress fail to enact the Absentee Voting Bill before 2004.

In a forum "Boto Ko, Isama N’yo" at the University of the Philippines’ Bahay ng Alumni last Tuesday, overseas Filipinos from the United States, The Netherlands and other parts of Europe, Hong Kong and China, among others, lamented that in spite of their large remittances into the country that have propped up the sagging economy, they continue to be "politically disenfranchised" in every Philippine election.

Aided by non-government organizations and militant groups who supported their call to action on the proposed measure, the OFWs cited Article V of the 1987 Philippine Constitution as the legal and constitutional basis for their right to vote. The Constitution states that, "suffrage may be exercised by ALL citizens of the Philippines not otherwise disqualified by law. . . "

The forum was organized by Kakammpi (Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak ng Migranteng Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc.), eLagda (Community of Filipinos Connected Through Technology), Empower (Global Coalition for the Political Empowerment of Overseas Filipinos), and Platform (Platform of Filipino Migrant Organizations in Europe). Overseas Filipinos claim to remit around $4 billion into the country every year through various banks and they bring in approximately another $8 billion in cash or "padala."

"Although it may be hard to force a 100 percent boycott, I think a regulated campaign to boycott (remittances) would be a strategy," said Marvin Bionat, Convenor of Empower. Apart from the regulated decline of remittances into the Philippines, overseas Filipino groups are likewise prepared to mount another method to pressure the government to enact the absentee voting bill by exerting their immense influence on their families here on whom they should vote for in the upcoming elections.

A political block

The groups claimed that the almost eight million Filipinos overseas, who comprise 10 percent of the total Filipino population, would be a major political block that could have a very significant effect on the electoral process in the country.

"Indeed, we weathered the Asian economic storm better than our neighbors largely because of the direct economic benefits of decades of many broken families, heartrending diasporas of our workers," read a statement issued by Empower. "But we are not asserting our right to vote only in the context of our economic value and as a matter of political quid pro quo. Beneath the simmer of our resentment is a raging desire to be recognized and treated as full-fledged Filipino citizens, not as an apolitical constituency easily made giddy by patronizing labels and by the welcome-home-modern-day-hero drama at NAIA, the Empower statement added.

The forum delegates stressed that even if they are away from the country, they remain "connected" to it and its transactions. Thus, they insist that they must be given a "say in the affairs of the government."

According to eLagda. "Every Filipino, wherever located, deserves a say in the choice of leadership and in the shaping of national policy. This empowerment may not solve all our problems, nor soon. But if it will help ensure greater participation by a wider community of Filipinos and reawaken is a keystone for national stability."

For its part, the militant Sanlakas acknowledged at the form that the enactment of the proposed measure granting voting rights to overseas Filipinos would be a major and true electoral reform for the country.

The appeal

Even as they urged the President and Congress to enact the bill immediately, the delegates made the following concrete appeals to the government:

Ensure equal opportunity and access to all qualified overseas Filipinos in the exercise of suffrage regardless of their location, work category and residency status abroad. It must cover all Filipinos abroad who possess valid Philippine passports and have not renounced their Filipino citizenship.;

Include all national elections or any plebiscite, referendum or initiative on any national issue;

Provide for a system of registration abroad or by mail supervised by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila even as the system of continuing registration is being implemented.

Allow for the exercise of suffrage in all countries and destinations worldwide where Filipinos are found and where embassies and/or consulates are located; special arrangements may be made for those areas with few OFWs or where the Philippines has no embassies; and

Allow for the participation of Filipino organizations and individuals abroad to assist the government in election-related matters and activities; Comelec may deputize such groups for this purpose. — Cyber Dyaryo