Comelec assures registered voters in Taiwan amid China tension

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia —File photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta | Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it can deal with overseas voting concerns in the May midterm elections should tension between Taiwan and China escalate further.

“All of these are just speculations at this point, but everyone need not worry because our law has sufficient contingencies and the Comelec also has contingencies as to what could happen,” Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said in an ambush interview at Palacio del Gobernador in Manila.

There are 71,009 registered voters among around 250,000 overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan.

Garcia said the registered voters in Taiwan can cast their votes via the internet.

“That’s the good thing about internet voting. They don’t need to go to the embassy, or Meco [Manila Economic and Cultural Office] in Taiwan’s case, to vote,” Garcia said.

“If they have cell phones, laptops or iPad, if ever such conflicts occur, they could still vote, unlike if we make them vote in a certain area,” he pointed out in Filipino.

But in a worst-case scenario, Garcia said the Comelec could declare an election postponement.

Garcia said the Omnibus Election Code states that elections could be postponed for 30 days in case of force majeure like war or natural disaster.

In 2022, the Comelec postponed the election in two posts in China due to the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting about 1,200 voters, according to Garcia.

On Tuesday, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. ordered troops to “start planning for action in case there is [an] invasion of Taiwan.”

READ: Brawner to PH soldiers: Plan for action in case of Taiwan invasion

The AFP later clarified that “the guidance was not a response to an imminent threat nor a declaration of heightened alert, but rather a prudent measure to ensure readiness for potential scenarios”.

After Brawner’s remarks, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Wednesday urged certain personalities in the country not to make “unfounded comments” regarding Taiwan, warning “those who play with fire will burn themselves.”

Beijing deems Taipei a renegade province subject to reunification, and has not ruled out the usage of force to put the island territory under its control.

Taiwan broke away from the Chinese mainland in 1949 following its takeover by Mao Zedong’s communist forces.