The Philippine Online Chronicles

Filipinos living and working in different parts of the world have been given the chance to vote for the national elections since the passing of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. Any holder of a Filipino passport can register at any precinct overseas – consulates and embassies are usually used as voting centers – and cast their vote for president, vice president and the twelve senators to be elected this year.

According to the Commission on Elections, a total 589 830 Filipinos registered for the month-long voting period that lasted from April 10 to May 10. This may sound like a considerable figure but with projections for overseas Filipino residents and workers reaching as high as 8.1 million, it is quite a letdown.

Most overseas absentee voters are based in the Middle East. Over 215,000 voters are registered in various polling stations in the region.  The Asia-Pacific Region also has over 200,000 voters - a good bulk of whom are in Hong Kong and Singapore. Europe has over 60,000 voters, and so do the Americas (mostly Canada and the United States). Sea farers may also vote in consulates or embassies accredited by the Commission on Elections.

The voters in Singapore and Hong Kong had their own PCOS machines in their precincts, making these two sites also part of the automation process by the COMELEC. Some embassies and consulates made people cast their votes through the mail or via a manual process inside the embassy.

According to the ABS-CBN figures, the turnout was very low. With all of the precincts for overseas absentee voting already reporting, the total number of votes amounted to only 133,174. This is a far cry from the already low number of registered voters and the figure puts the actual voting rate at just 22.6 percent. To further characterize just how small this figure is, this is more or less the number of registered voters for the province of Marinduque – one of the smallest provinces in the Philippines in terms of land area and population.

A majority win so far

In the figures already obtained by the ABS-CBN website, Noynoy Aquino seems to be the most favored option by overseas absentee voters. Out of a total of 48 610 votes for president reflected in the tally, 24 555 were for Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. This translates to a majority lead of 50.5 votes - an edge that he rarely had in provincial polls in the country. The surprise second placer is Bangon Pilipinas nominee Eddie Villanueva. The evangelist never ranked second in any opinion poll or any provincial tally in the country but he is a solid – but distant – second with 18.6 percent of the votes.  Manny Villar garnered 14.3 percent of the votes. Gilbert Teodoro got 7.4 percent while Joseph Estrada and Richard Gordon got 4.7 and 4.2 percent, respectively.

A Filipino newspaper in Hong Kong conducted an exit poll during the second day of voting and the results revealed that Villanueva and Aquino were supposedly neck and neck for the top spot. The voting was to go on for an entire month and clearly, the exit poll was misleading in the sense that it was done during the second day of the polls when most people had not yet voted. The initial exit poll showed that Villanueva had a rating of 36.1 percent while Aquino had 35.7 percent. The figures seemed to eventually tilt in favor of Aquino as more and more voters went to the polling stations to cast their ballots.

According to the Hong Kong data on the Commission on Elections’ official results website, Aquino also won by a slight majority in the former British colony. The incumbent senator was able to pull in just over 50 percent of the votes cast. Villanueva was far behind at just 21.3 percent. Nacionalista standard bearer Manny Villar was the only other candidate in double figures with 14.4 percent while administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro was fourth with 6.5 percent.

Aquino’s running mate Senator Mar Roxas also secured a slight majority win in Hong Kong. He had 51 percent of the votes. NP's Loren Legarda was second with 17.7 percent. Perfecto Yasay of Bangon Pilipinas was the surprise third placer with over 16 percent of the votes cast. The national front runner in the canvassing as of press time Jejomar Binay was only fourth with 10.5 percent.

Pretty much the same senate

Based on the figures on the ABS-CBN tally, it seems like the overseas Filipino voters have chosen almost the same set of senators currently leading in the polls. Re-electionist Ramon “Bong” Bong Revilla was the top choice while Ralph Recto was number two. Franklin Drilon, Jinggoy Estrada, Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. round out the upper half of the winners’ circle.

Juan Ponce Enrile, Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Pia Cayetano, Serge Osmeña III and Jose “Joey” de Venecia III were the next six in the top 12. Curiously, Teofisto “TG” Guingona III’s vote total is not listed, so it is not certain whether or not he is in the top 12.

Ocampo and Maza have relative strength in OAV

Leftist stalwarts Liza Maza and Satur Ocampo were surprisingly strong contenders in the overseas absentee voting. In the running ABS-CBN tally, the two were at the 15^th and 16^th positions. To put this into context, Maza and Ocampo are in 25^th and 26^th places respectively in the national count.

Maza had a very strong showing in Hong Kong where she polled as the 13^th most popular senatorial candidate. She had a better voter preference rating than Lito Lapid who only ranked 14^th. Ocampo was 15^th in the Hong Kong polls.

In Singapore however, the Bayan Muna and Gabriela representatives didn’t do as well. Satur Ocampo was back in the mid 20s while Maza even ended up in the 30s. Sonia Roco actually entered Singapore's top 12 along with eleven likely winners. Lapid was once again the dropped candidate from the local leaders.

Hong Kong accounts for roughly over a quarter of overseas absentee votes so the top performers in the poll have a good chance of doing well overall in the OAV tally.

Gabriela for Hong Kong and Singapore

To show further proof that Liza Maza was strong in the OAV tally, Gabriela topped the party-list polls for both Hong Kong and Singapore. Over 30 percent of the votes cast in Hong Kong were for the progressive women’s rights group headed by Maza. The win in Singapore was less compelling – Gabriela had only 9 percent of the votes. This support rate is still higher than the support they got from the local voters though.

Party-lists that get at least two percent in the overall tally will be able to send representatives to congress. Party-lists who get over four percent can send two congressmen while those who can get over six percent can field a maximum of three.

In Hong Kong, six parties were able to reach this threshold. These include Gabriela, Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC), Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamamayan (AGHAM), Buhay Hayaan Yumabong, Alyansa ng OFW Party and Kalinga-Advocacy For Social Empowerment and Nation Building Through Easing Poverty, Inc. Bayan Muna failed to secure two percent of the vote and were ranked at seventh with 1.68 percent.

Singapore had a more distributed voting pattern with twelve parties fulfilling the two percent requirement: Gabriela, Alyansa ng OFW Party, Alliance for Barangay Concerns Party, Bayan Muna, CIBAC, Ugnayan ng Nagkakaibang Layunin at Adhikaing Dakila, Colation of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines, Kalinga-Advocacy For Social Empowerment and Nation Building Through Easing Poverty Inc., Buhay Hayaang Yumabong, Akbayan! Citizen’s Action Party, Partido ng Manggagawa and Action Brotherhood for Active Dreamers.

Photo c/o Flickr.com. Some rights reserved.

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