RIYADH, 13 January 2004 — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom are looking forward to the national elections from April 11 to May 10 but are starting to ask why they have not yet received their voter identification cards.
“I asked Ambassador Bahnarim A. Guinomla and he said that they will be received in March,” said Dr. Mohd. Ali Carlito Astillero, a member of the Order of the Knights of Rizal (OKOR).
“With no information whatsoever reaching us regarding this matter, we have been trying to contact the TV programs ‘Dateline Philippines’ and ‘Kumusta Ka, Kabayan’ of The Filipino Channel (TFC) but we have not received any information,” said Dr. Ed de Castro of the Riyadh Medical Center and a member of OFW group CALABARZON who has members from the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon.
He said that while a team will arrive shortly for a series of seminars on Jan. 13-15 about the election process in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam — giving an impression that the COMELEC is not remiss in its duties — many OFWs are mainly concerned about voter IDs, not the election process.
The COMELEC will send the IDs to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah which in turn will mail them to OFWs in the remote areas of the Kingdom.
De Castro said that if the Philippine Embassy and the Consulate General are late in receiving the voter IDs, they will also be late in sending them to the concerned OFWs.
“Because of this, many OFWs may be deprived of their opportunity to vote as they didn’t receive their IDs. We hope that the COMELEC acts fast on this,” he said.
Dan Paredes, an entrepreneur who manages a restaurant business in Al-Khobar, told Arab News that he, his family, and his friends are also waiting for their voter IDs.
“I hope that we will receive these sooner rather than later,” he said.