Dutch Pinoys regret not voting in EU elections

Dutch Pinoys regret not voting in EU elections

By LOUI GALICIA, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau 06/18/2009 11:46 PM

The results of the recent European Union (EU) parliamentary elections in the Netherlands came as a shock to everyone including Filipinos living here.

The populist right Dutch Freedom Party or PVV of Geert Wilders scored a major victory, winning four of the twenty five Dutch seats in the EU Parliament.Many Dutch Pinoys said they regret having ignored the elections and not exercising their right to vote since PVV is widely known to be anti-immigrant.

They said it is also the anti-Europe and anti-Islam party of Wilders, the Dutch politician who was embroiled in a world-wide controversy when he made the film Fitna.

In fact, all the Dutch Pinoys who were randomly asked by Balitang Europe if they voted, either said that they shrugged off or deliberately ignored the biggest transnational election in history.

The Dutch Pinoys now said that they lament having missed the opportunity to express their choice of representatives to the EU Parliament, which has a considerable influence on the lives of EU citizens.

They now fear that the PVV will become a major force against migrants.

“Yon nga po. Isa po ako sa Filipinos dito na naging Dutch. Pinagsisihan ko na isinawalang bahala ko. Eh ang nanalo anti-immigrant. Eh di sana, di sila nanalo kung nakiboto ako dun, kung pinractice ko ang karapatan ko bilang Dutch immigrant ngayon dito sa Holland, “ Delvin Ocampos said.

For a Dutch who is married to a Filipina, he feels that his countrymen have spoken and the result of the election is a signal that the Dutch are against the growing number of immigrants in the country.

“A lot of people voted for them [PVV] because they don't agree with the government who’s cheating for four years now. In Vollendam, they voted for PVV. They gave them 40% and that means they're against some foreigners in our country,” Rene van Engelshooven said.

Van Engelshooven said that the immigration policy of the Netherlands has become rigid based on his experience in arranging the papers of his wife to join him here from the Philippines.

“Immigration policy is getting hard for the people. I like to vote for every right for everybody. Just equal rights for everybody,” Engelshooven said.

An opportunity wasted is how non-Dutch Pinoys look at the whole scenario because some of them are so willing to vote yet they do not have the right to.

“I really wanted to vote because I'm a little worried about the politics in Amsterdam and especially those immigrants like some Filipinos who do not have papers in Amsterdam. How I wish I can vote,” Efren Quintana said.

“For those Filipinos who lost the chance to do it, you have to do it. Vote not only for yourself but for other Filipinos all over the world,” Quintana added as a message to the Dutch Pinoys.

The Pinoys now worry that there is a clear protest vote from the Dutch for a new Holland that has no more space for migrants.

as of 06/18/2009 11:47 PM

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/pinoy-migration/06/18/09/dutch-pinoys-regret-not-voting-eu-elections