Simplify registration and voting for Overseas Filipinos

In the House of Representatives, there is a pending bill (House Bill 5329) which seeks to amend the “Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003″ (or, RA 9189). HB 5329, instead of offering ways to make it easier for Overseas Filipinos (OFs) to vote in Philippine elections, propose to further restrict the process, adding all kinds of procedures and requirements for prospective voters. It is no surprise therefore, that many Overseas Filipino organizations have rejected the proposed law.

Congress should pass a law amending the OAVL in the opposite direction – away from the restrictive provisions of HB 5329, and instead to make the law more inclusive so as to encourage maximum participation of Overseas Filipinos in the democratic process. Simplifying the registration and voting procedure would do a lot to make more Overseas Filipinos participate in elections.

I wonder why it is really necessary for Overseas Filipinos to register for every election. For many other countries, this is not required; all you need is to notify the diplomatic post of your presence in the country. Then, you are automatically considered as being part of the voters in the area.

What is the problem is we eliminate the need for registration for Overseas Filipinos who vote in person in the various embassies and consulates? After all, all OFs have Philippine passports, and these are supposedly fraud-proof (or at least, as fraud-proof as the Comelec IDs). Why can’t we simply come to the Philippine embassy during the voting period, show our passport, and then vote in the election. The embassy/Comelec personnel then need to make a special mark in the passport indicating that the passport holder has voted. Of course, for those opting for mailed-in votes, a personal appearance is needed to register for postal voting. During this registration, the passport would then be marked indicating that the owner opted for postal voting.

This system would have a big effect on the OFs’ participating in Philippine elections. For one, it would mean one less day needed for travel (and lost work hours) in order to register or vote. Those opting for personal voting will then need to appear only on voting day, those opting for postal voting only on the day they register. Then, there is the advantage for seamen – they no longer need to predict where they will be 10 months in advance (as is the case in the present system). They will then simply have to go to a Philippine diplomatic post (embassy or consulate) or other designated voting areas in order to vote.

What about the danger of fraud? This is the question always in the mind of our legislators, it seems. This is minimal, with the system I am proposing.

Flying voters? With a mark on the passport that indicates if one has already voted, the only way a person could be a “flying voter” is if they manage to have two Philippine passports. What about if the person first votes abroad, and then returns to the Philippines? The overseas voting post would report to the Philippines re who has voted there, and thus a person who votes twice this way would be caught. (there could be all kinds of systems made e.g. marking the Philippine voting ID together with the passport, etc.)
As for the problem of returning OFs not having voted abroad, but not able to vote in their Philippine polling station, there is a simple solution. They could be required to present their passport at a special polling station, and have this marked in order to be allowed to vote.

This procedure of simply presenting one’s passport when voting also makes it easier for “undocumented” Filipinos (a.k.a. “TNT”) to vote. They would be naturally hesitant to give their address to Comelec authorities when they register under the present system. Also, having to go to the embassy twice – first to register, and then to vote – leaves them doubly vulnerable to the host country’s immigration police.

Permanent residents or dual citizens who want to vote should also be allowed to do so without having to sign any affidavit re their “intent to return” . This is discrimination and an undue restriction of the rights of a group of Filipino citizens. This rule discourages people from wanting to vote.

Any amendments to the present Overseas Absentee Voting Law (OAVL, RA 9189) should have as their guiding principle the need to enable as many Overseas Filipinos fully participate in the democratic process.

Where are all the fat guys?

These days, there are alarm bells ringing about the obesity epidemic that is sweeping the world, with the US leading the trend. This has made me wonder, because when I walk around the city, ride the bus or train, visit friends, I don’t notice this so-called epidemic. Of course, there are people who look heavier than others, but there are also people who look lighter than the average. I guess that one reason for this is that obese people don’t go about as often as the general population. But this still seemed strange, given all the hype re obesity. So, I looked up the statistics.

Well, I found that the Netherlands has one of the lowest levels of obesity in the European Union – it seems that only France has a lower rate. But still, the Netherlands’ figure of 9,8% of people who are 20 plus years old as obese (i.e. with BMI – Body Mass Index of 30 or over) seems too high to be healthy. By the way, the BMI is the figure you get after you divide your body weight in kilograms, by the square of your height in meters. My BMI is 26+, which means that I am a bit overweight, since a BMI of 25 is healthy. And together with me, about 40% of the people here are also overweight (i.e. with a BMI over 25).

Why does the Netherlands have less obese people? Indeed. One possible factor could be the prevalence of bicycles in this country. There are more bikes than people here, and many people use their bikes every day.  It used to be that people would take their bikes to the train station before riding on the train.  Nowadays,  a growing number of people have folding bikes – they fold their bikes while in the train (this saves them from having to pay the fare for taking a bike in the train, a folded bike counts as baggage and is free to take in the train) and then unfold them again when they reach their destination.

Also, there is a new trend toward healthier eating. A recent study found that the Dutch are now less likely to eat at fastfood stores, and that people are taking less snacks. This comes together with moves to adjust the ingredients in the fastfood stores themselves e.g. changing to vegetable oils for french fries, etc.  Supermarkets are gaining market share in comparison to snack bars, because they are open longer (they used to close at 6 p.m.,  now they are open till 8 or 9 p.m.)  and offer small meal packages intended for the small household and those with hectic schedules.

As income levels rise, it seems that people here move out of eating obese-prone foods. One example is the decreasing amount of beer consumption; people are shifting towards drinking wine instead. And fastfood products are definitely “budget” foods, which means that lower-income people resort to these because they are cheaper; but that as people become wealthier they eat more “proper” foods.

Nevertheless, the Dutch obesity rate of 9.8% is still high; especially if we note that the rate in the year 2000 was around 6%. So, there is still a lot to do, even here, to keep people’s weight down,  and to make people eat more healthier foods and exercise more.