OFWs in Singapore will test new voting system
Multiparty solons present at Comelec demo
By E. T. SUAREZ
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) launched yesterday Internet voting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) with Singapore, which has 26,835 registered absentee voters, as the pilot area.
The launching, led by the Comelec Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting (COAV) headed by Commissioner Florentino A. Tuason Jr., was held at the Convention Hall of the Bureau of Treasury at the Palacio del Gobernador Bldg. in Intramuros, Manila.
Tuason said the OFWs, deployed in various countries all over the world, are allowed to vote for senators and sectoral groups participating in the May 14 midterm elections under the Party-List Law.
He said almost a million OFWs are registered under the Absentee Voting Law and are, therefore, qualified to vote for senators and sectoral groups participating in this year’s elections.
Yesterday’s demonstration of how Internet voting is done was made by Scytl Consortium, a Spanish company, through its chief executive officer, Pere Valles.
Valles said Internet voting as developed by Scytl ensures privacy of voting, the integrity of the vote and the verifiability of the vote.
"Internet voting could ensure fair, honest, and credible elections," Valles said.
The demonstration of Internet voting was held under the watchful eyes of administration and opposition leaders led by Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Sens. Rodolfo Biazon and Mar Roxas II, and partylist Reps. Satur C. Ocampo and Joel Virador, both of Bayan Muna.
Ocampo said Internet voting is something new, but if it can be proven that it is tamper-proof and reliable, they will certainly support it.
COAV records showed that there are almost a million OFWs who registered under the Absentee Voting Law. For this year’s elections alone, 35,000 Filipino domestic helpers in Hongkong have registered under the Overseas Absentee Voting Law.
Comelec Commissioner Rene V. Sarmiento, who had been to Italy and Spain after an official mission, said that since its implementation in 2003, the Overseas Absentee Voting Law has been welcomed by various Filipino groups abroad.
"The biggest concentration of OFWs in Europe is in Italy with about 200,000, and Spain, with about 40,000 to 50,000. About 15,000 to 18,000 of the OFWs are in the capital city of Madrid and almost the same number of OFWs live or work in Barcelona, the second most important city in Spain.
"The OAV policy provides a connection between OFWs and the home country’s political processes. As the Philippine Ambassador to Italy Philippe Lhuiller pointed out, "it gives a sense of power to our people where they are situated abroad," Sarmiento said in his report to the Comelec en banc through Tuason.
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