Philippine OFWs: Swing Vote of the 2010 Philippine Presidential Elections?

With the bugs behind the electronic voting system sorted out, will absentee voters – like Philippine OCWs and OFWs – form the crucial swing vote of the 2010 Philippine Presidential Elections?


By: Ringo Bones


As a developing nation, the Philippines is probably one of the world’s top providers of Overseas Contract Workers and Overseas Foreign Workers – OCWs and OFWs. These workers range from personnel manning container ships to nannies who know CPR with small-arms proficiency qualifications working for millionaire families. In past Philippine Presidential Elections, the concept of absentee voters doesn’t even exist due to cheating concerns. But the recent sorting out of electronic voting schemes, will absentee voting status of OCWs and OFWs make them the ultimate swing vote this coming May elections?

Filipinos who chose to work abroad – at least those that I know personally – chose to do it because they are sick and tired of the inherent and institutionalized government corruption that exists in the Philippines. An overwhelming majority of them are even in the process of becoming a citizen of their host country. Citing that the Philippine government is already under head-to-ass control by the Catholic Church making the government policies on Planned Parenthood almost stillborn, not to mention the Islamophobia and lack of academic freedom inherent in a Catholic Hegemony. Or maybe they just can’t seem to get enough of those under-aged teen prostitutes frequenting near the Gdansk shipyards, who knows?

Are Filipino OCWs and OFWs be the long awaited swing vote this May 10, 2010? Who knows if they’ll even show up in their nearest Philippine embassy when election time comes? But there’s one thing for sure if they’ll chose to vote, it will spell the end for nuisance candidates that typically comes out of the woodwork every presidential election time. Because a typical Filipino OCWs and OFWs are way smarter than a typical poverty-stricken Filipino voter who are - more often than not - cannot even afford college-level education. And given some Philippine presidential candidates placing on-line campaign ads in international websites, these candidates are probably desperate to make this crucial swing vote swing in their favor.

2010 Philippine Presidential Elections: Ignoring the Other Important Issues?

With yet another presidential election scheduled for May 10, 2010; are the main presidential candidates ignoring the other important issues?


By: Ringo Bones


Election time is again close at hand, and yet again some of the other less discussed but really important issues are yet again swept under the rug. The same rhetoric is spouted yet again about institutionalized government corruption, but no one has ever provided the concept of harm reduction when it comes to deeply entrenched corruption given that it is already a part of our Imperial-era Spain mandated culture for over 500 years.

Or what about the Catholic Church having enough clout to get away with everything? I mean have you ever heard a Catholic Church neutral discussion of Friedrich Nietzsche’s works in Catholic run colleges in the Philippines? Even the supposedly non-sectarian state universities can’t seem to pull this one off. Maybe those paedophile priests will find the Philippines a very inviting safe haven like Argentina was for NAZI war criminals at the end of World War II.

Maybe I should have devoted a whole blog about the Catholic Church as being the root of all evil that has bedeviled the Philippines. Like the way the Church bedevils homosexuality and Planned Parenthood – i.e. birth control that doesn’t involve molesting little altar boys. Or what about the Catholic Church in the Philippines undermining the Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997? If the Church can get away with it, would they get away with Church-sanctioned Islamophobia too?

Even some of the representative’s of the past evil regimes managed to run for high elective offices. Like the son of a former dictator who is famous for secretly assassinating his political opponents. Not to mention that former deposed corrupt leader who ruined my 300 US dollar a day business after he does a Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe like reform to bedeviling ex pats and other foreign nationals - like tourists. A move that ruined my business into a 30 US cents a day lemonade stand.

Maybe there’s truth to the Church sanctioned Islamophobia given that the Philippines is a Catholic majority country when the Catholic Church scandal of paedophile priests seems to have been hardly discussed in the local press. There are probably two practicing Muslims running for an elective position – maybe I’ll vote for the two just to keep the election fair and balanced. Unless the Philippine Catholic Church managed to deliver the promise they’ve been telling me since Ronald Reagan ruled the free world. Like using their magical powers that they have earned through their piety to turn worthless rocks and dirt into some kind of food the starving majority of Filipinos seems to be craving for.