On the proposed absentee voting bill

A FEW years back, while discussing the 1987 constitution's Article V entitled Suffrage, I asked my students in a constitution class if Filipinos abroad who did not renounce their Philippine citizenship can, at present, vote in the electoral process. Most of them who were called to recite confidently answered "yes" and even quoted the provision in section 2 regarding absentee voting. When everyone was almost convinced by their classmates' affirmative answer, I stared at their faces with a grin and said "no." I had told them that I didn't ask if the constitution allows them to vote, but whether they can, at present, exercise their right of suffrage, like go to the embassy and cast their vote.

If the constitution contains provisions on absentee voting, why can't the COMELEC just implement it? Constitutional provisions are of two types: self-executing and non self-executing. The former refers to provisions that can be implemented without congressional legislation. The latter, on the other hand, needs legislative enactments to implement them. The section on absentee voting belongs to the latter. Thus, even if the Charter provides for absentee voting, it cannot be implemented unless the Congress enacts a law defining its mechanism.

On February 24 at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, I joined Benny and Butch to attend a public hearing about the proposed absentee voting bill. The readers might ask themselves why only now after more than a decade of waiting. The merit of allowing qualified Filipinos overseas to exercise their right to vote is undisputedly explicit. Apart from the millions of dollars they contribute every year to the Philippine economy in the form of remittances, permitting them to vote is just as inherent as being Filipinos in themselves. Philippine citizenship is not reduced nor diminished even if one goes out of the country, so long as one does not renounce it. The right to vote is an essential right that all qualified Filipinos ought to exercise. But due to the less priority given by the past Congresses, Filipinos abroad had been deprived of their right of suffrage for more than a decade. Anyway, why should Congress be bothered of enacting an absentee voting law?

Thanks to media's attention and the apt description as the Philippines' "modern day heroes," the Filipinos overseas, particularly the OFWs, are now turning into a significant political group in their own right. Aside from their contribution to the national economy, their steady increase in number finally made them politically important to politicians. Currently at more than seven million, they constitute 20 percent of the total electorates. Consequently, the Congress is hastily enacting the absentee voting bill in time for the 2004 elections.

Among the salient points of the proposed bill, qualified Filipinos overseas can only vote for the following positions: President, Vice President, Senators, Party-list Representatives, and during Referendum and Plebiscites (see section 2 of the working draft). Roughly speaking, all of them are "national" in scope. The omission of local positions is justifiable since, in order to reasonably vote in the local election, one ought to know the local issues confronting that local area. And, one's physical presence is the best way to be updated on the issues. On the contrary, Filipinos outside the Philippines can still be updated about national issues wherever they may be. Should the proposed draft be enacted into law, it will be very interesting for political analysts to study their voting behavior and preferences.

Firstly, Filipinos abroad are insulated from the usual propaganda of the candidates. Groups like the family oftentimes influence the voting preferences of many ordinary Filipinos. X votes for Y because Y is his parents' choice or his teacher's candidate. Although, it still appears possible that Filipinos abroad can be influenced in this way, the probability is very minimal.

Page 2

Back to top