Kontra Daya said it received reports from concerned individuals in Japan, where absentee voting is done by mail, stating that the same type of fraud may have allegedly happened in 2004.

Reports from the Coalition of Enlightened Filipinos in Japan and the Philippine Women’s League of Japan said that “there seems to be too many suspicious names in the list for absentee voters in Japan.”

Kontra Daya said this would mean that the Japanese post will return the ballots to the Philippines because there were no intended recipients and these ballots will then be filled up in the Philippines and resent to Japan for counting.

The anti-fraud relayed their sources’ statement that they (contacts in Japan) will oppose the counting of any ballots resent from the Philippines.

For OFWs in Hong Kong, the disenfranchisement of OFW voters is already too much to allow possible anomalies and misconducts to further disenfranchise those who were able to vote.

Gabriela Women’s Party-List (GWP)–Hong Kong submitted a letter to the OAV secretariat in the host country of the observation and reports of the group’s poll watchers on the general conduct of the OAV and the actions of personnel involved throughout the voting process.

Included in their letter is the group complain over the OAV’s “new procedure” in which the Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) chairman is the one who drops the ballot inside the ballot box.

“This is most irregular for no other than the voter has right to his or her ballot and only in the counting period should it be touched by any other person,” said Cynthia Abdon-Tellez, GWP-HK chairperson.

Other points the group raised were cases of possible misconduct of SBEIs, baseless prohibitions to pollwatchers, withholding information to pollwatchers, and other concerns on the general conduct of SBEIs.

Fighting fraud

OFWs, voters or not, are united in their campaign against electoral fraud and violence in the Philippines.
In Hong Kong, Filipinos will hold a short gathering on May 13, eve of the elections, to express their desire for a fraud-free and violence-free polls. Prayers, statements and songs will be showcase the activity to show their strong opposition against guns, goons and gold that traditionally dominate the elections in the country.
Tellez said that GWP-HK will continue to “vigilantly watch” the OAV process up to the counting and canvassing of ballots.

In the U.S., Filipino-Americans participate in the elections through text messaging.

Through the TEXT Brigade Against Cheatings and Killings (TEXT BACK), hundreds of Filipino-Americans started a massive campaign of sending cell phone text messages in Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano, and English containing the message: “KUNG MAHAL MO ANG BAYAN PANDARAYA LABANAN. POL KILINGS TUTULAN! SA TRAPO WAG PALOKO PROGRESIBO IBOTO” (If you love our motherland, fight against cheating. Oppose political killings! Don’t be fooled by traditional politicians, vote for progressives).

Launched on May 7, TEXT BACK is an initiative of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance)-USA member organizations, New York Committee for Human Rights (NYCHRP) in the Philippines, Anakbayan U.S. Chapters, League of Filipino Students (LFS). In the Philippines, the TEXT BACK campaign is being promoted by Kabataan Party.

“A vast number of Filipinos abroad can not vote, but the circumstances should not prevent us from directly participating and making our voices heard in the coming elections. Since we cannot vote, we want to encourage our kababayans (compatriots) to vote for whom we believe deserve our votes,” said Gary Labao, TEXT BACK-USA spokesperson and a member of Bayan-USA in New York. There are about four to five million Filipinos in the American continent.

The group also utilized the online community, including Friendster, Myspace and blogs, for their campaign.

“We will encourage them, even my brother who is in the U.S. Navy, to send the texts because there are so many Filipino youths right now enlisted in the U.S. Navy who can’t vote even if they wanted to, at least through texts, they can participate), said Bobz Manuel, a member of Anakbayan-New Jersey and a participant for TEXT BACK-USA.

Filipinos in Australia have also launched TEXT BACK-Australia.

“If not for the economic value of overseas remittances, particularly the billions from the US, the Philippine economy will sink,” Labao said. “We deserve the right to be heard in the elections. We should have a say in who is elected in the Philippine government.” (Bulatlat.com)

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