JEDDAH, 2 October 2003 — Arnold Espanar came to the Philippine Consulate at 8:35 p.m. on Tuesday to register, just as the consulate was closing its doors, earning for himself the distinction of being the very last OFW to register in Jeddah.

Espanar was not particularly pleased by the distinction. He said he wanted to register early but work kept him from doing so, just like what other latecomers had said.

Only the prodding of his companion, who asked him to register because “we may need the voter’s ID later,” made him take time out of whatever he was busy with and register.

Once his application as an absentee voter is approved by the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Manila, he would be among those qualified to vote in the first absentee voting exercise for overseas Filipinos.

Under the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) law, OFWs are allowed to vote for the president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.

It took Espanar only 15 minutes or so to complete the registration process. Unlike him, however, tens of thousands of Filipinos in Jeddah, Riyadh or Alkhobar who also waited for the last few days of the registration period had to join the long lines, causing discomfort to themselves and difficulties to embassy and consulate staff and Comelec volunteers.

After two months of registration, Jeddah tallied a total of 33,219 or 17 percent of an estimated 200,000 OFW’s in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. Worldwide, only 4 percent of the estimate 7 million, registered.

Of the total, only 4,774 registered for the whole month of August. Of the 28,445 who registered in the month of September, 22,149 came during the last two weeks, or an average of 1,476 a day!

Similar trends were reported in the Riyadh and Alkhobar registration centers, although the exact figures were not immediately available.

“It’s the same tsaka na lang mentality all over again,” commented a volunteer worker, referring to the practice common among Filipinos of putting things aside for the last minute.

In the years before Overseas Filipino Workers were required to pay income taxes to the Philippine government, the consulate or embassy were usually swamped with tax filers during the last two days.

Taha Guinomla, the administrative officer of the consulate in Jeddah, said that while everyone who came to register was welcome and that while the consulate staff and Comelec-deputized workers prepared for the surge in number of registrants, the last-minute rush could take its toll on everyone.

With so many sets of papers to process, the staff workers get tired and eventually become slower. After all, they are also human. As the workers tire out and the movement in the lines also get slower, registrants become impatient. Restless registrants sometimes start abusing the registration staff, resulting in unnecessary tensions that further slows down the entire process.

Guinomla said two female workers had to quit when the number of registrants surged because their pregnancies were threatened.

He also related an incident last week when an OFW was bitterly complaining that consular officials were intentionally keeping him and other OFW’s out of the consulate, sweating under the heat of sun. Guinomla approached the OFW and showed him the overflowing crowd inside the consulate. Then he asked him: “If you have a brighter idea how we could accommodate all of you inside, please tell me?”

A deputized worker told how he engaged a whining OFW in a discussion. He said he was checking the application forms submitted by the OFW and told him to fill out another form because he doesn’t have his original passport with him. The OFW insisted that he had, pointing to the copies. The worker said he was referring to the original passport, which the OFW didn’t have but kept on insisting he did.

Another case showed how people could be as unreasonable as can be. A deputized worker was checking a form and asked an OFW to fill out the blanks he left out. After filling out some blanks, the OFW lost his sanity, tore the form in front of the worker and left.

There were no untoward incidents that happened around the Kingdom despite the rush to register. But outside the Kingdom, particularly in Kuwait, a brawl was reported during the last weekend of registration.

Reports reaching Arab News revealed that a female OFW was unusually noisy and complaining while lining up for registration. One male embassy official, the report said, got fed up and smacked the mouth of the errant female. A fight ensued between the woman’s male companions and the embassy staff.

Sources told Arab News that parties involved in the fracas would be filing charges and counter-charges against each other in court.

While there is a suggestion to extend the registration period, many OFW’s are mum about it. Some never caught the importance of being able to vote. One said that he didn’t go out to register because he doesn’t think the May 2004 elections will be clean and that only the rich candidates can make it abroad to campaign.

Kasapi Holds Medical, Dental Mission

Raffy Osumo

Special to Arab News

JEDDAH — Arnold Espanar came to the Philippine Consulate at 8:35 p.m. on Tuesday to register, just as the consulate was closing its doors, earning for himself the distinction of being the very last OFW to register in Jeddah.

Espanar was not particularly pleased by the distinction. He said he wanted to register early but work kept him from doing so, just like what other latecomers had said.

Only the prodding of his companion, who asked him to register because “we may need the voter’s ID later,” made him take time out of whatever he was busy with and register.

Once his application as an absentee voter is approved by the Commission on Election (Comelec) in Manila, he would be among those qualified to vote in the first absentee voting exercise for overseas Filipinos.

Under the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) law, OFWs are allowed to vote for the president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.

It took Espanar only 15 minutes or so to complete the registration process. Unlike him, however, tens of thousands of Filipinos in Jeddah, Riyadh or Alkhobar who also waited for the last few days of the registration period had to join the long lines, causing discomfort to themselves and difficulties to embassy and consulate staff and Comelec volunteers.

After two months of registration, Jeddah tallied a total of 33,219 or 17 percent of an estimated 200,000 OFW’s in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia. Worldwide, only 4 percent of the estimate 7 million, registered.

Of the total, only 4,774 registered for the whole month of August. Of the 28,445 who registered in the month of September, 22,149 came during the last two weeks, or an average of 1,476 a day!

Similar trends were reported in the Riyadh and Alkhobar registration centers, although the exact figures were not immediately available.

“It’s the same tsaka na lang mentality all over again,” commented a volunteer worker, referring to the practice common among Filipinos of putting things aside for the last minute.

In the years before Overseas Filipino Workers were required to pay income taxes to the Philippine government, the consulate or embassy were usually swamped with tax filers during the last two days.

Taha Guinomla, the administrative officer of the consulate in Jeddah, said that while everyone who came to register was welcome and that while the consulate staff and Comelec-deputized workers prepared for the surge in number of registrants, the last-minute rush could take its toll on everyone.

With so many sets of papers to process, the staff workers get tired and eventually become slower. After all, they are also human. As the workers tire out and the movement in the lines also get slower, registrants become impatient. Restless registrants sometimes start abusing the registration staff, resulting in unnecessary tensions that further slows down the entire process.

Guinomla said two female workers had to quit when the number of registrants surged because their pregnancies were threatened.

He also related an incident last week when an OFW was bitterly complaining that consular officials were intentionally keeping him and other OFW’s out of the consulate, sweating under the heat of sun. Guinomla approached the OFW and showed him the overflowing crowd inside the consulate. Then he asked him: “If you have a brighter idea how we could accommodate all of you inside, please tell me?”

A deputized worker told how he engaged a whining OFW in a discussion. He said he was checking the application forms submitted by the OFW and told him to fill out another form because he doesn’t have his original passport with him. The OFW insisted that he had, pointing to the copies. The worker said he was referring to the original passport, which the OFW didn’t have but kept on insisting he did.

Another case showed how people could be as unreasonable as can be. A deputized worker was checking a form and asked an OFW to fill out the blanks he left out. After filling out some blanks, the OFW lost his sanity, tore the form in front of the worker and left.

There were no untoward incidents that happened around the Kingdom despite the rush to register. But outside the Kingdom, particularly in Kuwait, a brawl was reported during the last weekend of registration.

Reports reaching Arab News revealed that a female OFW was unusually noisy and complaining while lining up for registration. One male embassy official, the report said, got fed up and smacked the mouth of the errant female. A fight ensued between the woman’s male companions and the embassy staff.

Sources told Arab News that parties involved in the fracas would be filing charges and counter-charges against each other in court.

While there is a suggestion to extend the registration period, many OFW’s are mum about it. Some never caught the importance of being able to vote. One said that he didn’t go out to register because he doesn’t think the May 2004 elections will be clean and that only the rich candidates can make it abroad to campaign.