Tolentino lauds pilot testing of Internet voting for OFWs
SENATOR Francis N. Tolentino on Thursday lauded the leadership of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over its plans to conduct the pilot testing of Internet voting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the 2025 midterm elections.
According to Tolentino, allowing migrant Filipino workers to vote in “the most convenient way” will definitely encourage them to exercise their constitutional right to suffrage and choose their preferred leaders who will lead the country in the next three to six years.
“Mas magiging demokratiko ang proseso kapag maraming kababayan nating nasa ibayong dagat na mga absentee voters – migrant workers, OFWs – ang kalahok. Magiging kumbinyente ang paraan ng pagboto at hindi na po nila kailangang bumiyahe pa ng ilang oras para lamang marating ang mga itinakdang polling precincts,” said Tolentino.
During last year’s presidential election, only 626,000 out of the 1.6-million registered overseas absentee voters were able to cast their ballots – equivalent to only a 39% voter’s turnout.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, in a statement released on Wednesday, said there is no need for a new law to authorize Internet voting for registered overseas absentee voters since the poll body “promulgate rules and regulations and consequently, implement other means of overseas voting that are more reliable, secure, and efficient.”
During the 18th Congress in January 2021, it was Tolentino who first appealed to the poll body to devise a more convenient way for OFWs – Filipino seafarers in particular – to exercise their respective voting rights.
The senator then noted that Filipino seafarers have been deprived of their right to vote in the past elections since they are at sea most of the time.
While the current process allows seafarers to vote by going to the nearest embassy or consular post during the 30-day voting period, Tolentino stressed that most seafarers are at sea for six months, which is the usual duration of their respective contracts.
