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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Does this mean I should be ready to pull out my 32 Beretta Tomcat that I often use as a hair berret in my Yulia Tymoshenko-style hairdo everytime a Filipino seaman who recently did his Rn'R near the Gdansk shipyards everytime he looks at me funny? Anyway, Filipino OCWs and OFWs are about as interested as listening to that Chinese all girl punk band named Minzhu sing about the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989 - or was it about that song about being friends with His Holiness, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. But seriously, I just hope that the "cheat proof" electronic voting machines set up in various Phillipine Embassies around the world will provide inclusion of Filipino OCWs and OFWs in major elections. This could initiate a hope and change in Philippine politics that will end the career of those nuisance candidates. Or maybe I'll just listen to the girls of Minzhu sing about the Dalai Lama one more time.
Is "Minzhu" already standard pinyin? Anyway, given the relatively high I.Q.s of Filipino OCWs and OFWs, these absentee voters - given their large constituency base - could spell the end of nuisance candidates making them the ultimate swing voters in Philippine Presidential Elections this coming May 10, 2010.
Isn't the reason why there are so many Filipinos working overseas is that they were compelled to do so after being enthralled by deposed former Philippine president Joseph Estrada's very corrupt administration? And one more thing, Professor Richard Dawkins should do one of those academic speaking tours at University of San Carlos in Cebu City.
Post a Comment