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Absentee Voter's Law Questioned
Jun 27, 2004
The debut implementation of Absentee Voter’s law has disappointed some members of the Congress after noting that it was only a complete waste of government funds.
The low turnout of voters was very dismaying especially the zero votes tallied in almost 10 countries where voting centers were set up. These countries are Norway ( numerous seamen), Uganda, Romania, Mozambique, Yemen, Senegal, Paraguay, Botswana and Portugal. This result is really bad considering that the consuls- much less the overseas Filipino workers- of the said country did not vote as well. In Australia, less than 150 Filipinos cast their votes.
Biliran Rep. Gerry Espina said that the law should "be repealed or amended in order to avoid unnecessary and exorbitant expenses". He was talking about the P400 million that the government spent for the implementation of the said law.
"The very few number of voters who voted in the different countries do not justify the amount of money spent by the government," Espina said. "This does not justify the election paraphernalia used and the expenses in sending these abroad, including the expenses incurred for the personnel sent to implement the law in these countries."
Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said Congress has given the Department of Foreign Affairs P100 million and P300 million to the COMELEC just to conduct the overseas voting.
There are almost 6 million Overseas Filipino workers around the world in 74 countries where voting centers were set up, yet only 300,000 exercised their right to vote.
The head of DFA's overseas absentee voting secretariat, Cathy Maceda, has earlier announced that the restrictions Overseas Absentee Voting Act has disqualified some Filipinos. Almost 25 percent of the Filipinos all over the world gave up their citizenship and therefore could not vote in Philippine elections.58 percent of Filipinos in the United States have given up their citizenship as well as the 80 percent of Filipinos in Australia.
The low turnout of voters was very dismaying especially the zero votes tallied in almost 10 countries where voting centers were set up. These countries are Norway ( numerous seamen), Uganda, Romania, Mozambique, Yemen, Senegal, Paraguay, Botswana and Portugal. This result is really bad considering that the consuls- much less the overseas Filipino workers- of the said country did not vote as well. In Australia, less than 150 Filipinos cast their votes.
Biliran Rep. Gerry Espina said that the law should "be repealed or amended in order to avoid unnecessary and exorbitant expenses". He was talking about the P400 million that the government spent for the implementation of the said law.
"The very few number of voters who voted in the different countries do not justify the amount of money spent by the government," Espina said. "This does not justify the election paraphernalia used and the expenses in sending these abroad, including the expenses incurred for the personnel sent to implement the law in these countries."
Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said Congress has given the Department of Foreign Affairs P100 million and P300 million to the COMELEC just to conduct the overseas voting.
There are almost 6 million Overseas Filipino workers around the world in 74 countries where voting centers were set up, yet only 300,000 exercised their right to vote.
The head of DFA's overseas absentee voting secretariat, Cathy Maceda, has earlier announced that the restrictions Overseas Absentee Voting Act has disqualified some Filipinos. Almost 25 percent of the Filipinos all over the world gave up their citizenship and therefore could not vote in Philippine elections.58 percent of Filipinos in the United States have given up their citizenship as well as the 80 percent of Filipinos in Australia.
