(PNA file photo)
MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said it intends to suspend voters' registration for the 2025 National and Local Elections (NLE) in Israel to ensure the safety of Filipinos there, amid its conflict with the Palestinian Hamas group.
"Tayo ay magre-recommend bukas sa Commission en banc na baka pwede i-suspend muna indefinitely 'yung registration ng botante natin diyan sa Israel (We will recommend tomorrow in Comelec en banc to indefinitely suspend the voters' registration in Israel)," Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an ambush interview.
Garcia said Filipinos' safety is of utmost priority following Israel's declaration of a state of war.
He made the remark despite the reopening of the Philippine embassy in Israel.
"Mahirap po nating ipagbakasakali ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan gayung hindi pa talaga maayos ang sitwasyon doon sa lugar (It's hard to put the lives of our fellow Filipinos at risk considering that the situation isn't yet stable)," Garcia said.
The poll body may also grant an extension on the two-year overseas registration in case the situation persists in Israel.
"Kung sakaling kakailanganin na mag-extend dahil dito sa suspension, gagawin natin (In case we need to extend the registration because of this suspension, we will do it)," Garcia said.
As of July 17, there are 9,906 active overseas Filipino registered voters in Israel, according to the Election Registration Board.
During the 2022 NLE, however, only 59 percent or 7,871 out of 13,364 registered Filipino voters in Israel participated in the polls.
To improve voters' turnout, Garcia reiterated the Comelec's target of considering online voting.
"Kung maisasagawa natin ang internet voting para sa ating overseas Filipinos lalong-lalo na sa mga seafarers, nagtatrabaho sa mga bahay sa abroad, naniniwala tayo na tataas ang bilang ng mga botante overseas (If we will implement internet voting for our overseas Filipinos, especially for seafarers, house helpers abroad, we believe that it will [help] increase the number of overseas voters participation)," he said.
The Comelec spent some PHP417 million to fund the 2022 NLE overseas voting.
However, only 39 percent of 600,000 overseas Filipino voters cast their votes.
Last July 11, several companies pitched their systems to be considered as the country's internet voting service providers for overseas Filipinos.
Among the participating solutions providers were Miru Systems, Smartmatic, Dermalog, Indra, E-Corp, Tambuli Labs, Voatz, and Thales.
Earlier, the Comelec said it is mandated to "study and explore the use of the Internet to cast votes for overseas Filipino voters," under Republic Act 9189 or the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003. (PNA)
