Economy and corruption on the minds of Filipino midterm voters in Macau

Macau (MNA) – Local Filipino residents voting in the country’s midterm elections mentioned to MNA that they regard economy and corruption as the issues that concerned them the most, as the percentage of locally registered voters remains low.

Today was the last day of a month long electoral period where Filipinos residing in Macau could vote for the country’s general election.

The elections will decide who will fill 18,000 government posts, including 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate, all seats in the House of Representatives of the Philippines, and several municipal and city level positions, with almost 43,000 candidates currently running.

Locally registered Filipino voters had between April 13 and May 13 to cast their votes at the Philippine Consulate General in Macau, but could only vote for 12 senators and one party-list representative.

However, while almost 61 million voters were registered in the Southeast Asian country to vote, only about 9,000 – 28 per cent of the more than 32,000 Filipino workers in the city – are registered to vote.

According to the Chairperson of the Progressive Labor Union of Domestic Workers (Macau), Jassy Santos, the low number of registered voters can be attributed to their usually busy work schedule.

“Some don’t have holidays to be registered. Some Filipinos don’t have patience to line up to be registered because they have limited time outside and some don’t know how to get registered[…] Others are already are registered in other places like Hong Kong or Singapore,” she told MNA

However, she admitted some “might not care” about the elections, with Chairperson of the Greens Philippines Migrant Workers Union, Benedicta Taberdo Palcon, considering this voting apathy the main reason for the low number of registered voters.

“It’s not that complicated, it’s almost one month. There are no excuses […] Maybe they think their vote will be stolen. The mindset of the people is that the election is very dirty. Sometimes the [electronic] voting machines [at the consulate] had problems. Actually they did not work for the first five days of the election, so [voters] had to wait for new ones to arrive,” she told MNA.

Ms. Palcon herself told MNA she only voted in three of the possible 12 senators she could choose for, since she does not view most of the opposition candidates favorably.

“Most of them are traditional opposition party members, from the Ladlad or the LDP. Most of them I don’t like since they are either are corrupt or ex-convicts who came out of prison to take part in the election. I only vote for the new candidates, who are taking part in the political process for the first time,” she said.

The Duterte challenge

Several political analysts have considered this midterm elections to be a test to President Duterte’s troubled and controversial spell in office, since being elected in 2016.

Mark R. Thompson, an expert on Southeast Asian politics currently lecturing at the City University of Hong Kong told MNA that he expects pro-Duterte candidates to dominate the elections with a Senate already dominated by senators allied or supportive of Duterte’s administration, to be reinforced in the elections.

However, he considered that a few of those in the “magic 12 circle” were likely to be independents.

“It looks as if only one opposition candidate Paolo “Bam” Benigno Aquino IV, the cousin of former president Benigno Aquino has a strong chance to win re-election to the senate,” he stated.

Despite controversial stances concerning his war on drugs and intentions to reinstate the death penalty for drug offenses, which have caused concerns in the international community, according to Professor Thompson, Duterte’s popularity has remained solid, and is a result of “the failures of the past ‘liberal reformist’ regime”.

“[This regime] was plagued by patronage scandals, failed to significantly reduce poverty, and did not strengthen institutions (particularly in the judicial system) or build sufficient infrastructure to keep up with a growing economy,” the professor told MNA.

“This opened the way for what I call Duterte’s ‘violent populism’ where he promised quick and brutal action to deal with crime to pave the way for national development. His vulgar political style, often criticized abroad, also appeals to many Filipinos who find it authentic.”

Concerning what the new government has done to improve the conditions of foreign workers outside of the country, Ms. Santos only named the increase in 2018 of the validity period of a Filipino passport from five to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Ms. Taberdo considered the community was still waiting for changes to be made concerning health insurance policies for expats.

A government act from 1995 established that Filipinos working overseas require compulsory insurance in order to obtain an OEC (overseas employment certificate).

In case the insured worker’s contract his terminated by his/her employer without any valid cause, or the employee resigns with valid cause, the actual cost of transportation – air fare only – is covered by the insurance obtained by the employment agency.

However, in the beginning of this year an amendment was made to this act, stating that overseas employers would also have to cover the costs of sending the remains of the employee in case of death, with Ms. Taberdo stating some employers have refused to cover this new expense, and leading to some work contracts being terminated.

Filipino nationals voting at the Macau Consulate

Lunch break voting

Voting ballots were open today at the Consulate from 9:00am until 6:00pm, and during this period MNA noticed that most voters chose to cast their ballot during their lunch hour, taking about 5 to 10 minutes to vote and then heading back to work.

“I am exercising my right to vote for democracy. I do what I can for my country, even I work in Macau,” a Filipino voter – who chose to not reveal his name – told MNA after casting his ballot.

“I believe the Philippines economy and politics will be good in the future. I worked here for seven years in restaurants here and of course I want to go back to my hometown,” she told MNA.

Another voter, who has worked in Macau as a housemaid for nine years, said it was her first time voting in Macau, and counted corruption as her main concern when picking candidates.

“[I hope] there will be no corruption changing government policies […] I support the Federal system […] I have worked for nine years in Macau and I don’t think I will work here forever,” she added.

Almost half of all Filipinos in the city are currently working as domestic workers, with another housemaid telling MNA she left four children in the Philippines and has been working hard in Macau for six years to save money and return to her hometown one day.

Recently Amnesty International stated that the conditions in which domestic workers in Macau and Hong Kong worked resembled “modern slavery”.

A Filipino couple approached by MNA after voting and stated they agreed with some of President Duterte’s work, despite some of his failings.

A technical worker employed in local hotels for four years, the husband said he is quite satisfied with the life and salary in Macau, even with improvements seen in the Philippine’s economy.

“People care about the pay and safety here. Even though the Philippines has more casinos now, the pay is not what people expect,” he told MNA, with his wive jumping in to add her view.

“Changes are ongoing and they will take many years, but it’s going better now […] [Duterte] is not perfect, no one is perfect. But it is a positive change [in the country]”.

After voting polls close today, the results will be counted electronically, printed and sent to a Philippines government special board for China in Hong Kong, where they will be officially tallied.

  • With Jane Wong