OFWs launch online petition for senatorial bet

JEDDAH, K.S.A. – A group of overseas Filipinos here have launched an online petition urging the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to reverse its decision rejecting the senatorial candidacy of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW). Nhazruddin “Rudy" Dianalan, a systems engineer based in Saudi Arabia, was disqualified by the poll body from the senatorial race on the premise that he did not have the capability of launching a nationwide campaign as he has no nationwide political machinery. The petition assailed the Comelec ruling for being “discriminatory and biased" not only against independent candidates but against the Filipino overseas community as well. The petition stated that while Dianalan is not affiliated with any of the Philippines' major political parties, it does not mean he has no capability to launch a nationwide campaign. “We are not running a traditional campaign," stated the petition which was authored by Jeddah-based community leader Jauhari Usman. “If it's really necessary, we can put up the equivalent of party machinery in every municipality, city, province and region. Albeit skeletal, it will be composed of families, relatives, and friends of overseas Filipinos from different regions in the Philippines," said the online petition, which is posted at www.petitiononline.com. It also noted that Dianalan's candidacy is viable due to global Filipino presence, which is tantamount to having national support since overseas Filipinos come from the different parts of the country. “With 11 million Filipinos in diaspora, even if we can reach out to only 3 million who have influence over 4 or 5 voters in the country, that should translate to 12-15 million votes," it said. In terms of funding, the petition said even if only 500,000 overseas Filipinos would be tapped to pledge $10 (P458) each, that would translate to P235 million, which is said to be the minimum requirement for a senatorial bet to mount a nationwide campaign. To date, the petition has garnered 98 signatures. There was also no definite date of the petition’s launch. Info drive on absentee voting urged In similar news, another migrant workers’ group based in the Middle East urged Philippine posts in the region to launch information campaigns on the conduct of the overseas absentee voting (OAV). According to John Leonard Monterona, regional coordinator of Migrante-Middle East, they have not heard of a single advisory issued on the conduct of OAV even as it is already scheduled to start in April in some selected posts, ahead of the May national elections. “The number of registered absentee voters is higher than the previous registration for the 2004 national elections. It is indicative that OFWs are going to participate actively in the upcoming elections and will cast their vote," Monterona said. A total of 589,830 overseas Filipinos have registered to vote in this year’s elections, which is higher than the 364,946 active voters in the past two elections. The Middle East and African nations recorded the highest number of overseas voters at 225,148, almost half of whom are from Saudi Arabia. [See: Less than 600K overseas votes seen in 2010] “OFW voter turnout is expected to reach 70% of the total registered absentee voters in the Middle East," Monterona added, especially if Philippine consulates in the region would launch a full information dissemination campaign. – JMA/JV, GMANews.TV