MANILA, Philippines — ?The month-long absentee voting for the May 13 midterm polls starts today for some 1.78 million overseas Filipinos except in troubled spots in Syria, Iraq and Libya, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the deteriorating conditions in Damascus in Syria, Tripoli in Libya and Baghdad in Iraq prompted the poll body to order the suspension of voting.
He said the poll body does not expect the hostilities in these areas to be settled soon.
“We don’t see elections happening there in the immediate foreseeable future,” Jimenez said.
Comelec director for the Office for Overseas Voting Elaiza Sabile-David said the poll body is 99 percent ready to conduct the overseas absentee voting which runs from April 13 to May 13
“There is no 100 percent so we are 99 percent ready for the conduct of elections already. We are all set for this,” David said.
Under Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003, overseas Filipinos vote only for national posts or for 12 senators and one party-list organization in the coming midterm polls.
David added they expect the bulk of voters to turn up during the last few days of voting.
“We don’t expect many voters to come during the first few days of elections,” David said as she urged voters not to procrastinate for their own comfort and convenience.
Data showed there are 1,882,173 registered overseas Filipino voters and a majority or 887,744 of them are in the Middle East and Africa. A total of 401,390 voters are from Asia Pacific; 345,415 from North and Latin America and 187,624 from Europe.
Based on Comelec Minute Resolution No. 18-1124, elections in 41 of 83 Philippine posts will be automated.
These are in Agana, Calgary, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Brunei, Canberra, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Athens, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Al-Khobar, Riyadh and Tel Aviv.
In the rest of the 42 posts, manual voting – either through personal or postal voting – will be used.
Postal voting will be used in 29 posts – Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Santiago, Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Islamabad, Port Moresby, Yangon, Ankara, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Abuja, Cairo and Pretoria.
On the other hand, voters in 13 posts will have to use personal voting. These are in Dhaka, Dili, Jakarta, Manado, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Vientiane, Xiamen, Vatican, Amman, Nairobi and Tehran.
The ballots are kept at the Philippine posts abroad until they are opened for counting and canvassing on election day on May 13, Philippine time.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to choose candidates who would not steal their remittances.?CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People chairman Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos reminded the OFWs that they should be wise in selecting the next set of elected public officials.
He said praying would help the OFWs discern who among the candidates deserve their votes.
The group, BaBaE! (Babae, Bantayan ang Eleksyon!) Network, an alliance of women leaders and organizations, urged migrant workers to vote for candidates who would prioritize their welfare and ensure their protection.
Otso Diretso senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc also called on OFWs to exercise their right of suffrage and use this opportunity to elect the representatives who would fearlessly fight for their rights and welfare.
BaBaE! Network advised OFWs to vote for candidates who value them and their contribution to the nation’s economy, and those who prioritize their welfare and ensure protection of their rights in and out of the country and do not see them as mere products to earn from.
The group emphasized the need for candidates who recognize the plight of OFWs and provide tangible measures to protect them. – with Evelyn Macairan, Helen Flores