JEDDAH, 18 March 2004 — A campaign is on by party-list group Gabay OFW to seek support from Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families in the forthcoming Philippine national elections.

Gabay campaigners are not only asking for votes in the party-list contest but are also conducting voter education among community members to help them make an intelligent decision in selecting the next Philippine leaders.

“We are doing this two-pronged approach because there are many of our kababayan (compatriots) here in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere who are still unaware of the party-list election,” said engineer Rudy N.D. Dianalan, president of Gabay in the Western Region.

In the May 10 elections, registered Philippines voters will be electing for the president, vice president and 12 senators, plus party-list representatives.

A party-list is a group representing certain sectors such as women, youth, disabled persons, farmers, labor, urban poor, overseas workers, or cultural communities. If a party-list group is declared a winner in the election, it’s registered nominees will assume seats in the House of Representatives. The number of seats depends on the number of votes obtained by the group.

Under the rules, only party-list groups that can muster a minimum of two percent of sectoral votes cast in the election can stake their claim among the 50 seats allocated in Congress.

A voter is allowed to put in the ballot only one party-list group, and Gabay leaders said this makes winning for any party difficult because there are more than 100 vying for the 50 seats.

Moreover, they said, among other groups currently contesting these seats are those from labor, farmer, urban poor, and the communist fronts that have rounded up a large chunk of the ballots in the May 2001 election.

“That is why we are asking the support not only of every OFW but also their family members or relatives in the Philippines,” said Corly Obtinalla, one of the three nominees of Gabay.

Obtinalla said even if the 96,000 or so OFWs who have registered in the Kingdom vote solidly for Gabay, that would still not be enough for the group to win. “But we can win if all of us here, including those who have not registered as voters, help by asking the votes of their spouses or children who are in the Philippines,” he added.

According to Gerry Cuares, an electrical engineer who is one of Gabay’s avid campaigners, OFWs should not hesitate to support Gabay because “this is the party of real OFWs, who are staying abroad and know what is happening in the jobsite.”

He said Gabay’s nominees — Obtinalla, engineer Matt Bubong from Riyadh and Faisal Sarque from Dammam, have been long-time community leaders in the Kingdom.

They were chosen because of their track record, which is consonance with the party-list group’s main programs of fighting for the welfare and protection of OFWs, Cuares said.

Gabay’s alternate nominees are Romy Sinamban, Ben Garcia, and Bel Hugo representing the Central, Western, and Eastern regions, respectively.

Gabay is composed of OFW community leaders Kingdom-wide supported by umbrella organizations from different regions of Saudi Arabia.

The group’s officers, apart from Dianalan and Obtinalla, Cuares and Garcia, include the big names in the Western Region: Vic Aguila, Romy Bani, Jhoe Usman, John Asperilla, Raffy Campiao, Boy Cornejo, Ben Garcia, Rene Dumaguina.

Gil Manese, Mitchell Hj. Omar, Nort Areglado, Abdulfatah Mogawan, Bobby Dalos, Lito Martin, Hernan Huerto, Clary Macaraya, Cesar Lontok, Ed Catain, Sonny Aguinaldo, Mar Marzo.

Ernie Geslani, Billy Felipe, Jun Ocampo, Maricel Garcia, Ed Velasquez, Ric Tibayan, Rodolfo Castro, Ding Arambulo, Arnel Guanzon, Dawood Engay, Atoy Esguerra, and Ed Rufino.

Dianalan said compound-to-compound campaigning is not easy but their efforts are bearing fruit.

“It is a big challenge. You meet so many individuals who are smart-alecky (mapilosopo) but it’s also encouraging that many of them have become supportive of our campaign after we explain to them our position,” he said.

He said they were also further encouraged by the support expressed by leaders or representatives of the major community groups in Jeddah during a recent meeting. Some of them have also been active in giving voter education to fellow OFWs.