THE South China Morning Post's October 30 issue carried news about the right of Filipinos abroad to exercise their right to vote, beginning in 1998. While some Filipinos may view it as a very positive development and attribute it to President Fidel Ramos' 'tireless pursuit and practice of democracy', I join those Filipinos who see it as a calculated step (if not a tacit admission that overseas workers' votes - some four million - will be badly needed at that time) to legitimise another Philippine Government that is anything but democratic. What has the present government done for overseas workers? In an interview with Asiaweek on October 6, Mr Ramos said 'it [the present government] is the only administration that has gone beyond the protection aspect because there are many other things beside protection'. If the Philippine Government had really gone beyond the protection of overseas workers, Flor Contemplacion, Sarah Balabagan and other victims of oppression and exploitation would have been spared death, pain and mental anguish. If it had gone beyond protection, no illegal recruiters would have been allowed to lure unsuspecting Filipinos into slavery abroad. It is well known that overseas workers are the current biggest dollar earners for the Philippines. But it is not well known (but definitely something that overseas workers should be aware of) that the bulk of the funds that saw the election of the present government came from fellow workers abroad. Of course, no one will admit this. This is not strange, for in the past, overseas remittances have been used for other projects that are not beneficial to workers abroad or their families. A case in point is the Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) fund scam several years ago in which the OWWA bought a hotel with overseas workers' money. Workers abroad should ask why, after all these years - and despite their huge remittances - the Philippine Government continues to leave them open and vulnerable to exploitation and oppression. With this standard practice, how can the right to vote change a single thing for workers abroad? Some might say it is a further step towards making the issue of overseas workers more important. It could also be seen as a positive step towards more regular consultation with workers abroad. But this is not the case - never in the past were overseas workers consulted about decisions and policies (or have even been well-informed), even on the question of representation. Workers abroad have a representative appointed by the Government, not by them. The right to vote is not an automatic guarantee of a nation's human and democratic rights. History has proven time and again to the Filipino people that elections under a pseudo-democratic system run by bureaucrats, landlords, and national and multinational corporations does not guarantee real social change. Elections under this system only aid the transfer of power from one leader to the next. CONNIE BRAGAS- REGALADO Unifil-HK Chairperson