IT is very heartwarming to see and hear how very engaged kababayans in America have increasingly been when it comes to what is going on in the Philippines. Despite the distance away from the Motherland, most of us — especially those who still have family living there — still care about what is going on in the country.
There are Fil-Ams who may have challenges paying their own bills, yet they feel obligated and compelled to send money to their families because they know if they are remiss in helping out, their loved ones would not be able to survive. Many of these Fil-Ams lament that if only there are more and better employment opportunities back home, then their families would not be very dependent on them financially. If only…
That is why news about corruption and incompetence of those in public office infuriate a lot of kababayans in America. The Internet, social media and ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” have provided these kababayans the platform to help them voice out their concerns and opinions about the political situation in the Philippines. However, we can do more to effect change in the Philippines. This is through exercising the right to suffrage.
Filipino citizens residing abroad, or those who may have already naturalized citizens of other countries but have come dual citizens, can vote — and these votes will count. There may have been very low turnout in the past election cycles, but again, because of the power of the Internet, social media, and global broadcast organizations like ABS-CBN, more and more kababayans are now compelled to register as Overseas Absentee Voters (OAV).
There have been some flaws and loopholes in Philippine election laws that discourage more kababayans outside of the country from participating in Philippine elections, but with the advocacy of Filipino community leaders abroad, especially from the United States, these laws have been challenged and amended so more of global Filipinos can cast their sacred and consequential votes.
One of these advocates is Atty. Ted Laguatan, an active Fil-Am leader based in San Francisco, California.
Laguatan filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) — on behalf of US Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG), Global Filipino Diaspora Council (GFDC), European Network of Filipinos in the Diaspora (ENFID) and thousands of overseas registered voters — requesting the Comelec not to disenfranchise about 167,000 registered voters who failed to consecutively vote twice. As a result, Laguatan sent “Balitang America” the good news: the Comelec had a meeting en banc to consider such petition and came out with a very positive resolution.
The resolution stipulates that on May 27, 2013, Congress amended RA 9189 of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003, replacing it with RA 10590 and making it mandatory and not discretionary for the Comelec to deactivate overseas registered voters who fail to vote twice consecutively.
Affirming the arguments presented by Laguatan in the petition, the resolution recognized the clamor of overseas voters not to disenfranchise them for failing to vote twice. This resolution also affirms the importance of the right of suffrage of every Filipino, wherever they may be.
Laguatan reported that the final policy decision, which was approved unanimously, extends the date for reactivation from Oct. 31, 2015 to Dec. 9, 2015. It also made reactivation a very easy process. Just mail, fax or email the Comelec before this date and the deactivated overseas voter can still participate in the May 2016 elections.
Laguatan enthused:
“Registered overseas voters now have exceeded the one million mark and with time continue to grow in numbers. They can be a real force for good. In general ORVs [Overseas Registered Voters] cannot be bought nor coerced by goons. They are also better informed. As such, they tend to vote for the best candidates in terms of integrity and competence. They can change the quality of our national leadership with their votes and the votes of their relatives in the Philippines whom they help and who will follow their directions on which candidates to vote for. This is one way in which we can change the political culture in the Philippines, have good honest non-corrupt leaders and create a better life for Filipinos everywhere in the world.”
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
