Absentee-voting for OFW reps?

First, she was kidnapped at gunpoint. Then, the fiscal set one of her arrested abductors free. Now, she’s getting death threats. With what she’s been through, it’s a wonder that Jacky Rowena Tiu still has faith in the justice system.

The 29-year-old businesswoman from San Fernando City was held for ransom by Chinese nationals from Sept. 27 to Oct. 4, 2001. They kept her in a bungalow in Tarlac and an apartment in Bacoor, Cavite where, at one point, they threatened to chop off one of her fingers to show her family that they meant business. Her ordeal ended when her kin pitched in P10 million for her freedom.

Authorities arrested seven kidnappers. Jacky identified them all in a police lineup. But the Chinese embassy in Manila interceded for the release of two of the suspects, Zhang Xiwang and Zhang Du, on the grounds that "our consuls interviewed them . . . and are convinced they are innocent." San Fernando fiscal Oscar Corpuz then downgraded the charge against Zhang Du from principal to mere accessory, and granted bail of P130,000. Zhang Du got a discount, walked out of jail for P100,000, and promptly went into hiding.

Jacky went to town with two questions: "How come the Chinese consuls never bothered to ask me about the two Zhangs whom I had pointed out in the lineup? How come the fiscal, if he had doubts about Zhang Du’s role, did not ask me about it?"

A foreign affairs undersecretary branded the Chinese intervention as improper. Justice Sec. Nani Perez and Interior Sec. Joey Lina promised to help. Jacky’s private prosecutor asked Corpuz to reconsider the lighter charge and bail for Zhang Du. Corpuz denied the motion last Jan. 11. By that day, Jacky already had received seven death threats on the phone for pressing her case.

Maybe she should back off and let vigilantes from Davao do the job.

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The absentee-voting idea is stirring the passions of overseas Filipino workers. Bills in the Senate and House of Representatives would allow OFWs to cast ballots for national officials: President, Vice President, and senators. Legislators are still determining how to conduct the campaign, balloting and counting overseas. But associations of OFWs already are lobbying for the inclusion of voting for sectoral representatives who would fight for their interests in Congress.

Vice President Tito Guingona, also the foreign affairs chief, reports that even some ambassadors are in favor of overseas voting for sectoral congressmen. Why not, he says. The Constitution allows for 250 seats in the House. Only 220 are occupied at present. On the other hand, there are at least three million Filipino citizens working abroad. It won’t hurt to let 15 or so new congressmen to represent every 200,000 Filipinos in other countries or regions. Guingona cites the case of Japan, where some 250,000 Filipinos work. "They can elect from among themselves a representative who will sit in the Philippine Congress with voice and vote as a full-fledged congressman," he says, "to initiate and enact bills or resolutions that he believes will redound to the benefit of his constituents living there."

There are complications, though. Guingona says that some countries like China and those in the Middle East restrict political gatherings. This would hamper the candidates’ need to introduce himself and explain his platform. And of course, there’s the expensive cost for presidential and senatorial candidates to mount a campaign abroad. "Not even the use of sophisticated texting and Internet facilities can adequately meet a candidate’s desire to explain to millions of OFWs his personality and program," Guingona says. Will candidates be allowed to stick posters just anywhere the way they do in the Philippines?

There’s also the debate on whether to conduct the balloting and counting at RP embassies and consultates. It would be physically and financially taxing for OFWs to travel thousands of miles to these offices if they work in, say, Saudi Arabia or the South Pacific or the US. Too, holding electoral exercises right in the embassies could tempt ambassadors and consuls into partisan activities. Guingona says that foreign service officers are expected to be politically neutral in order to serve the interest of the home government and OFWs. Even the slightest suspicion of partisanship could lead to a career diplomat’s reassignment to a hardship post by a vindictive winning candidate. The obvious alternative is to cast ballots by mail. But the way Filipino pols invariably attribute defeat to cheating, mailed ballots will always be subject to question. With expected electoral protests, the ballots may never be included in the national canvass, if they are counted at all.

What worries Guingona most is the Comelec’s failure to modernize election procedures in the Philippines, much more for OFWs. The old voters’ registration list is constantly under question for allowing multiple and fake voters from other areas during the past two elections. Precinct assignments are a mess; even candidates can’t find their names in their assigned polling centers. Counting and canvassing is still done slowly, because manually, instead of automation. Guingona can just imagine how poll cheats will export dagdag-bawas (vote padding-shaving) to the three million Filipinos overseas.

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