JEDDAH/RIYADH, 1 Octobr 2003 — The registration for the first Philippine overseas absentee voting exercise ended yesterday, with Saudi Arabia’s total falling short of the 100,000 target but still accounting for almost one-third of the world’s total.

As of last night, at least 97,300 OFWs listed up in the registration centers at Jeddah, Riyadh and Al-Khobar.

In Jeddah, 2,181 people came yesterday, raising the final tally to 33,219.

Riyadh had a total of 41,535 registrants and Alkhobar had 22,581 as of 8 p.m. but a good number of people were still signing up in the centers.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS) in Manila yesterday recorded 302,360 total registrants in 85 centers scattered all over the world.

By region, the Asia-Pacific led with 141,414 registrants, followed by 124,862 in the Middle East and Africa, 24,851 in Europe and 10,376 in the United States, South America and Canada.

Saudi Arabia’s total overshadowed the 85,576 of Hong Kong, which had been leading in the turnout contest during the early part of the registration period.

And if the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Manila extends the deadline for at least two weeks, the Kingdom’s total could surpass the 100,000 mark, said Vice Consul Romulo Victor Israel of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh.

Israel was commenting on ex-Senator Raul Roco’s call for an extension of the registration period, which began Aug. 1, to give those who were not able to beat the deadline to do so.

“We are still willing to continue with the registration if it so authorized,” Israel said.

Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla had earlier attributed the improved turnout in the Kingdom largely to the help of community organizations. Many of these groups went house to house to campaign among OFWs to go out and register.

Despite the low turnout worldwide, the Comelec main office in Manila hailed the two-month registration as a success.

“This is a success... for an effective base of 900,000, we were able to register about 300,000,” Comelec information chief Diego Cagahastian said.

The original Comelec target for overseas voters was 2.5 million. It was lowered to 1.7 million, then 800,000 before going down to a target range of 200,000-400,000.

The 300,000 plus figure is less than a tenth of the 4.5 million Filipinos abroad who may be considered qualified to vote under the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) Act 0f 2003, the law enabling overseas Filipinos to vote in Philippine national elections.

Catherine Maceda, head of the secretariat, said the total number of registrants would be known probably on Oct. 4 when the reports from all the registration posts worldwide shall have come in. The secretariat is projecting a final turnout of between 350,000 and 400,000.

Roco, who plans to run for president in the elections scheduled for May, said he would ask the Comelec to extend the registration period, which began Aug. 1. He attributed the low turnout to the failure of Comelec representatives abroad to clearly explain the rules.

He said many Filipinos abroad did not register because they believed they would be obliged to come home permanently. “Nobody explained to them that they must only visit home, that they just profess a desire to come home” after some years,” Roco said.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act allows qualified Filipino citizens abroad to vote for president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives in May and subsequent elections, except in plebiscites and referendums.

Apart from the contract workers, migrant Filipinos who have not yet renounced their Philippine citizenship are also covered by the law.

But the provision that requires them to execute an affidavit pledging to return to the Philippines and to permanently reside in the country within three years from the time of registration turned off many Filipinos in the United States and Canada. (Additional input from Inquirer News Service)