Affidavit requirement for absentee voting on the way out

By JULIE JAVELLANA-SANTOS
abs-cbnNEWS.com
as of 04/03/2009 9:30 AM

Representative Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin Jr. said he will do away with the residency requirement being asked of overseas Filipinos in order to vote in Philippine national elections.

"I will remove the residency requirement and I will call it the Daphne amendment in honor of Daphne Kuok who twisted my arm," Locsin said on ANC primetime show "Talkbalk."

Kuok is one of the most prominent overseas Filipino leaders in Hong Kong very visible during the campaign for the enactment of overseas absentee voting (Republic Act 9189) and currently in drawing up the amendments of this act.

The affidavit was enshrined in the law as a requirement for overseas voters who had migrated to other countries. Quoting noted constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Locsin said this would keep the overseas Filipino concerned "connected" to the Philippines.

"They can just sign the affidavit and throw it away," Locsin said, "how can you hold them? There’s no criminal sanction."

Locsin bewailed the fact that turnout for overseas absentee voting fell to almost 10 percent of registered voters in May 2007 from about 65 percent in May 2004.

"But both the COMELEC (Commission on Elections) and the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) really did their best," Locsin said.


Information campaigns

Rhodora Abano of the Center for Migrant Advocacy disagreed. She said the low turnout was only due to the required affidavit.

She said more because of the inefficient information dissemination and lack of information campaigns on the part of the government agencies involved in the process.

At the moment, the COMELEC is already working hand-in-hand with the DFA to make sure that there will be a sizable turnout for the scheduled continuing registration of overseas absentee voters later this year and for the elections in May 2010.

COMELEC Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said they are already preparing a massive information campaign to announce the registration.