Nagoyaka Gaiko: Poll Duties for Filipino Diplomats
by Philippine Consul General Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat
22 May 2022, Chunichi Shimbun
Filipinos, including those based in Japan, voted for our next set of political leaders on 09 May 2022.
This election was the first time that the Philippine Consulate-General in Nagoya was conducting overseas voting.
Preparations. Our tasks as representatives deputized by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) started in 2021, with updating the voters’ list.
During the lull between the registration and voting periods, we intensified our preparations:
- First, by determining our specific assignments as election officers;
- Second, by undergoing a training program for these duties;
- Third, by coordinating closely with COMELEC on our needs, particularly the logistics of transporting IT equipment and distributing election materials;
- And fourth, by revitalizing the communication channels among the three Philippine missions in Japan for faster.
One Month for Overseas Voting. Our diplomatic and consular posts in Japan are responsible for 69,160 active voters: 53% in Tokyo; 34% in Osaka; and 13% in Nagoya.
Unlike in the Philippines, where voters could go to the polls only on 09 May 2022, overseas voters could cast their vote within one month up to election day.
Most of our election-related work had taken place in recent weeks, with the Consulate temporarily converted into an assembly line for labor-intensive tasks.
We coordinated the release of equipment and materials from the Philippines, tested the voting equipment in the presence of poll watchers, inspected and did quality control checks on the election materials, pasted stamps on the packets, transported the ballots to Japan Post, counted the votes using the Vote Counting Machines (VCMs), and brought the election results to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo, for consolidation and for onward transmittal of the said data to COMELEC.
Teamwork in Fulfilling our Mandate. As civil servants, we are duty bound to be nonpartisan and to uphold and ensure the integrity and transparency of the voting process.
Not only have we been deputized to handle overseas voting, but also to make use of public diplomacy to address misinformation (false information, not necessarily with the intent to mislead) and disinformation (false information, with the intent to mislead) and, in the process, help safeguard the trust and confidence in the elections.
I am proud of my colleagues in the foreign service for their dedication and professionalism as election officers.
I am especially grateful to our Consulate team in Nagoya for doing their election-related tasks while continuing to render consular and other services to our clients. They worked beyond office hours in recent months and even pulled in family members to help in the assembly line.
We acknowledge the guidance, responsiveness, and assistance from COMELEC and the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, and support from our missions in Tokyo and Osaka.
Finally, we thank our fellow Filipinos in Japan for contributing to the orderly conduct of overseas voting and exercising their right to vote—and thus their right to choose our leaders and determine the destiny of our nation.
Note: The Nihongo version of this article, published in Chunichi Shimbun, is available in this link.
Consul General Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat is a career diplomat from the Philippines. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and a master’s degree in international studies. She held jobs in banking and the academe before joining the foreign service, and assumed her post in Nagoya in November 2020. She is married to a fellow Filipino diplomat, and they have a daughter and a pet cat.
