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COMELEC conducts training for overseas voter registration

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By JULIE JAVELLANA-SANTOS, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/21/2008 8:10 PM

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Philippine consular officials from North and South America acted as irate voters during a role-playing session which capped a five-day training session on registration for overseas absentee voting in San Francisco last week.

Elections commissioner Rene Sarmiento said this role-playing session was held at the end of the training held October 9 to 14 at the Philippine consulate in San Francisco.

“We had this mock registration process where the consular officials served as actors and actresses,” a visibly jet-lagged Sarmiento told abs-cbnNEWS.com.

He said consuls from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Brazil, Venezuela and Cuba attended the training.

“Mga bago e, there were a lot of new faces. A lot of these consular officials are young,” Sarmiento said.

He added that during the role playing “lahat ng mga taray (of the registrants) nilabas.”

“Ang bagal-bagal niyo. Binabayaran naman kayo ng gobyerno. May appointment pa ako, bilisan niyo,” Sarmiento related consular officials who played registrants as saying.

Sarmiento said COMELEC commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer earlier held a similar session for Middle East consuls and embassy officials in Dubai while Commissioner Lucenito Tagle is currently holding another training session in Rome for embassy officials based in Europe.

He said the training programs had three main purposes but preliminary among them was “to train our consular officials how to use the DCMs (data capturing machines) to capture the biometrics of overseas absentee voters.”

“This was also to train them (the consular officials) how to use the voter search system, through which they can discover double registrants. So if one has applied already, has registered already, they can easily detect by using this voter search system,” Sarmiento added.

The third aim of the training, Sarmiento said, had to do with teaching prospective registrants about the Dual Citizenship Law RA 9225 and how to avail of this, including its benefits to the person involved.

Affidavit of intent to return

Sarmiento also said most of the overseas Filipinos based in the US were still anxious about having to sign an affidavit requiring them to return to the Philippines three years after registration in order to vote.

“Many permanent residents and green card holders are wondering why dual citizens don’t have to sign this affidavit and they do. They called this discrimination so about 5,000 will not register because of this affidavit,” Sarmiento said.

He mentioned there is a pending bill at the House of Representatives which will extend the period from three to seven years. Makati City 1st district Rep.Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. however, said he would try to have this particular provision removed once the bill is discussed on the Congress’ floor.

“Maraming nagsabi sa akin na kung gagawin ni Locsin ito at tumakbo siyang senador, mananalo siya,” Sarmiento said.

He said many Filipinos in the US assured him that the removal of this affidavit would definitely increase registration.

Registration background

As early as April, the COMELEC began preparations for a nine-month registration period, from Dec. 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009.

Ferrer said in a consultation meeting with the non-governmental organizations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) that "it is imperative to conduct a continuing registration in order to allow a greater number of voters to cast their ballots."

The meeting was held to gather further suggestions on the registration and the "massive information dissemination campaign" for the 2010 elections. Filipinos overseas will be allowed to vote for the president, vice-president, senators and party-list representative.

Sarmiento said a lot of the former registrants will be removed from the voters lists because the ruling is if an overseas absentee voter fails to cast his ballot for two consecutive elections, he will have to re-enlist. Since the first registration in 2003, many OFWs have transferred residences and/or ended their contracts and have returned to the Philippines.

The COMELEC reported that in 2003, total registrants amounted to 361,457 and another 142,665 registered in 2006. These were for the 2004 and 2007 elections respectively.

Sarmiento said that unfortunately, a large percentage of these will have to be delisted.

Vendors’ fair

He also said that groups interested to bid for the computerization of overseas absentee voting during the 2010 elections are expected to converge at the COMELEC office in Intramuros next month to show off their wares.

According to Sarmiento, this “vendors’ fair” will be held in conjunction with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). He said he has been working with IFES in instituting electoral reforms, both for local and overseas voting.

Sarmiento said he is for closer networking with non-governmental organizations in instituting these reforms as well as for automating the electoral process.

All these will also be helped by a more intensive information dissemination process, Sarmiento said.