JEDDAH, 7 March 2004 — The Philippine national elections is still two months away but many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) could not wait to cast their votes.
Like the boxer ready to go for a kill, some already have the name of their presidential and vice presidential candidates etched in their minds that no amount of campaigning could sway them.
“Excited na akong bomoto (I’m so excited to vote),” said Mardy Dimalotang, a civil engineer working at Rawasi Consulting Co.
Dimalotang said he has already made up his mind to vote for action movie “king” Fernando Poe Jr. even before the Supreme Court ruled that the main opposition standard bearer was eligible to run for the presidency.
The high court on Wednesday rejected several petitions seeking to bar Poe from running for president o grounds that he was not a natural-born Filipino.
Dimalotang said he holds high hopes that Poe, who has no experience in holding public office, could lead the Philippines away from poverty.
“With too much corruption and lawlessness in our country, what we need is a strong-willed and decisive leader. Among the candidates, Ping Lacson best fits that description,” asserted Nori Guerra, a certified public accountant who was the immediate past president of the Tanglaw Toastmasters Club of Jeddah.
Lacson, a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, is known to be the toughest ever to head the Philippine National Police. His admirers say he was feared not only by kidnap gangs but also by scalawags within the police force, including his seniors. His detractors blame him for ruthlessness, including the summary execution of 11 kidnap gang suspects in 1995.
Some believe former Education Secretary Raul Roco is the best bet. Roco is banking on his record as a campaigner against corruption in government as well as the reform-oriented laws he had authored or supported as a congressman and senator.
Others say it’s better to give incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a full six-year term to complete whatever good programs she had began.
Jing Dizon, an archive organizer at Jeddah Graphic Center is a staunch supporter of Arroyo said: “I am pro-Arroyo because she had already shown her capability. Her superb economic policy and other platform of governance will surely win her the second term.”
Many Filipinos in the Kingdom feel sorry for not being able to vote because they have not signed up during last year’s two-month registration held in Riyadh, Alkhobar and Jeddah.
“We had no time to come down to Jeddah just to register Alam mo naman bukod sa busy kami, mas priority namin ang trabaho dito (As you know, work is our priority here),” said John Benieves, an executive secretary at Sheraton Taif.
Tens of thousands in far-flung found it expensive and time-consuming to go to consular offices just to register.
For identification purposes during election, voters may present either their iqama, a valid Philippine passport, company ID, driver’s license or any valid identification card. Registered voters may now check their names at the certified list of registered overseas absentee voters at Comelec website: www.comelec.gov.ph/announce/OAVlist.htmlor DFA website: www.oavs.dfa.gov.ph or visit or call the Philippine Consulate General at the following telephone numbers: 660-0348; 663-0354 and 667-0925.
