RIYADH, 16 March 2004 — The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah released some 700 voter IDs yesterday to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who had earlier registered for the absentee voting from April 11 to May 10.
The embassy in Riyadh released 300 IDs while the consulate in Jeddah issued another 400 IDs.
The embassy called on other registered OFWs to claim their IDs anytime during office hours.
In Jeddah, Taha Guinomla, administrative officer of the consulate, also asked registered OFWs to also claim their IDs and urged them to cast their ballots as soon as possible when election starts to avoid the rush as the voting deadline nears.
“We are now in the process of fine-tuning the system of distribution to shorten the waiting time in claiming IDs,” Third Secretary and Vice Consul Adrian Elmer Cruz, also the assistant political affairs officer of the embassy said yesterday.
Cruz added that while some IDs don’t have a picture or a fingerprint of the bearer, this does not invalidate them. Registered voters are in fact advised not to put their pictures or fingerprints on their IDs.
If an OFW does not have a voter ID, he would still be allowed to vote if his name is in the voters list, he added.
Records show that 40,000 OFWs had registered at the embassy and 33,000 at the consulate.