OFW group cited for taking active role in OAV campaign

MANILA, Philippines — A militant group of migrant Filipino workers has been cited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for helping promote the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) exercise among expatriate Filipinos. In its weblog (www.bagongbotante.ph), the Comelec hinted that help from such groups as Migrante-KSA is most welcome considering the apparent lack of interest among many overseas Filipinos in exercising their right of suffrage. Data from the Comelec showed that only 10,83 overseas Filipinos have signed up so far since the third OAV registration began on February 1. The registration period ends on August 11, 2009. “The Commission commends Migrante KSA for taking an active role in encouraging our compatriots in the region to exercise their right to vote. With their help, the Comelec is optimistic that even in the arid desserts of Saudi Arabia, Filipinos can and will be enabled to plant the seeds of change in the homeland by way of their votes," Comelec spokesman James Arthur Jimenez said. Migrante's Saudi Arabia chapter recently threw its support for wider voter participation among OFWs and commended the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah for extending the voters’ registration days to accommodate more OAV registrants. Jimenez particularly cited the group’s efforts to conduct information drives in the Filipino community and for coming up with their own OAV primer. “We are thus encouraging other OFW formations throughout the world to follow Migrante’s lead and help us encourage wider voter participation among overseas Filipinos. Let us join hands in proving to the rest of the world that distance and oceans are not a hindrance in proclaiming our love for the Motherland by voting for the nation’s next set of leaders in 2010," Jimenez said. To encourage more OAV registrants, the Comelec has set up special registration centers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) for departing OFWs. This move is meant to rid the departing land based and sea based OFWs of the hassle of going to their respective consulates and embassies abroad when they register, he said. - GMANews.TV