LOS ANGELES - Opposition backed candidates under the Ki-Bam coalition, Bam Aquino and Kiko Pangilinan led the senatorial tally in the first online overseas voting within the jurisdiction of the office of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles in an election that had a significantly low voter turnout at 3.27 per cent.

            Aquino garnered 616 votes or 54.46 per cent of the total number of votes cast while Pangilinan took the second spot with 595 votes. It is a comeback for both Aquino and Pangilinan after the former lost in his senator bid  in 2019 and the latter in the vice-presidential race in the 2022 elections.

            Meanwhile, the Mamamayang Liberal Party List topped the race with Akbayan with 153 votes and 134 votes, respectively.  ML party list first nominee is former Senator Leila de Lima who had hoped for votes from the Liberal Party while Akbayan is actively supporting the Ki-Bam coalition under incumbent Senator Risa Hontiveros, who served as their party-list representative in Congress.

             Independent candidate and former audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza, who was also supported by sections in the opposition, received 502 votes.  The fourth to the sixth spot in the senate tally went to: Bong Go, 437; Rodante Marcoleta, 419; and Bato de la Rosa, 417. These senatorial candidates aligned with then president Rodrigo Duterte, who stands trial at the International Criminal Court in connection with unwarranted deaths during his so-called drug war.

            Consul General Adelio Cruz admitted that the low voter turnout may be because this is the first time an online voting system is being implemented. He called it “birthing pains” because  obviously, a lot of our kababayans had difficulty registering online.

            Of the 34,557 registered voters within the coverage area of the Office of the Philippine Consulate General here, only 1,131 have cast their votes in the first online voting for overseas Filipinos according to the official tally of the Special Board of Election Inspectors. The consular office in Los Angeles serves the biggest number of Filipino population in the US and outside the Philippines estimated at 1.2 million Filipinos.

            The PCG in Los Angeles also reported that there are 296 voters who had pre-registered for the online voting process but failed to cast their votes. A registered voter has to pre-register with a voter ID and password and once logged in, is given a code to allow them to cast their vote in more or less five minutes.

            Cruz also pointed out that it has been traditional in the overseas voting that the turn out during the midterm elections is a lot lower than the presidential elections and even with the mail in ballot, they haven’t expected a hundred per cent output with the number of registered voters here in Southern California. The Los Angeles office also serves southern Nevada and Arizona.

            He always encourages  kababayans to exercise their right to suffrage saying that “I guess, if we really are concerned about the future of our country,  regardless of wherever you are, if you  are a Filipino and if want to be a part of the election, you will find a way,”

            According to Cruz, they have sent different teams to Las Vegas, San Diego, Arizona, Palm Springs and were also very active and made their presence felt in areas where there’s high foot traffic among Filipino-Americans in commercial places like Seafood City and Island Pacific adding, “We did our best, reached out to as much as we can to the Filipino-American community.”