RIYADH, 24 July 2003 — Anticipating full participation of absentee voters in the coming Philippine national elections in May 2004, a group of Filipinos has launched the Saudi Arabia chapter of Migrante Sectoral Party of Overseas Filipinos and their Families.
In its general assembly held at Al Badr International School last Friday, the Kapatiran sa Gitnang Silangan (KGS), which claims to be one of the prime movers in the struggle for migrant rights and welfare in the Middle East, passed a resolution supporting the sectoral party.
?It is high time for OFWs to have genuine representatives in the (Philippine) House of Representatives by participating in the electoral struggle through the first-ever implementation of the Absentee Voting Law,” the resolution said.
KGS, a Riyadh-based organization affiliated with Migrante International, stated in the resolution that it “believes and trusts (the) Migrante Sectoral Party of Overseas Filipinos and their Families to carry the genuine voice of OFWs and the needs of distressed Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia in formulating policies and laws of the Philippine government, particularly those that will affect the lives of OFWs and their families back in their own country.”
Under the Absentee Voting Law, overseas Filipino workers are allowed to vote for the Philippine president, vice president, senators, and party-list representatives.
In the same assembly, a second resolution was passed requesting the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh and the Commission on Election in Manila to establish mobile registration centers and polling places in Riyadh’s First and Second Industrial Areas; Dawadmi, Jubail, Hafir Al-Batin, Dammam, and Al-Khobar in the Eastern Region; as well as in Taif and Khamis Mushayt in the Western Region, where there are large concentration of OFWs.
“One migrant worker in Dawadni would spend about SR140 just to register at the embassy,” said Eugene Tulalian, KGS president in the area. He said Filipinos in Dawadmi work mostly in auto shops as mechanics and steel fabricators, earning an average monthly salary of only 800 riyals. Dawadmi is almost four hours away from Riyadh by bus.
Under the absentee voting law, OFWs are required to register personally at Philippine embassies or consulate. The registration period starts on Aug. 1 for a duration of 60 days.
Tulalian also cited problems of “broken” work schedules of Filipinos in Dawadni, hence registering by group, to lessen the travel cost, is not possible.
“Should there be no mobile polling centers in far-flung places, hundreds of thousand OFWs all over the Kingdom will be disenfranchised,” said one KGS member.
The resolution likewise pointed out that various Philippine diplomatic posts had requested for additional registration facilities and venues in in Canada, Japan, the United States, Italy, and Malaysia.
KGS urged the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh to make a similar request to the Comelec.
The KGS elected a new set of officers for 2003-2004 in the general assembly. They are: Richard F. Bautista, chairman; Romy Asuncion, vice chairman; Andrew Ociones, secretary-general; Edgar Cadano, treasurer; and Aristotle Villanueva, auditor.
