Only Four Filipinos Cast First Seafarers Vote in Rotterdam

Only four Filipinos cast first seafarers vote in Rotterdam

By LOUI GALICIA
ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

Only four seafarers were able to cast ballots in the first seafarers’ personal voting in Rotterdam, Netherlands, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau reported.

Three COMELEC-deputized officials of the Philippine Embassy headed by Consul Leila Lora-Santos conducted the field voting for seafarers on April 25, aboard the "Pride of Rotterdam," a cruise ferry of the Dutch company P&O Ferries.

The embassy estimated around 80 Filipino seafarers on board the ship but as the voting procedure began, many turned out to be unregistered as Overseas Absentee Voters (OAVs) or are only registered in the Philippines.

It was quite a disappointing figure for the Embassy staff who traveled from The Hague to Europe’s largest port, bringing with them 80 ballots.

Lora-Santos told ABS-CBN’s Balitang Europe that "it is very sad that these seafarers took the time to line up in the hope of casting their ballots but only to find out that they were not on the list."

She added that it’s overwhelming to see and feel their eagerness to vote.

Media wasn’t allowed on board but the four seafarers who were able to vote sent hand-written testimonials to express why they had made the extra effort to vote.

Jonathan Bael said, "Ako si Jonathan Bael, may asawa at isang anak. Nakatira sa Mendez Crossing, Tagaytay City. Masarap ang pakiramdam ko kasi nagamit ko ang aking karapatan bilang Pilipino sa paraan ng pagboto (I’m Jonathan Bael, married and with 1 child. I live in Mendez Crossing, Tagaytay City I feel great since I was able to exercise my right as Filipino through my vote)."

Danilo Cordova said, "Ako po si Danilo Cordova, may asawa at tatlong anak, taga Batangas City. Malaking bagay po sa amin na makaboto ng sa ganoon ay mapili namin ang karapat-dapat na maging senador (I’m Canilo Cordova, married and with 3 children, from Batangas City. It’s a big deal to us to be able to vote and elect those who deserve to be senators)."

Dan Rey Madrigal said,"I’m Dan Rey San Miguel Madrigal, a proud Filipino seafarer-voter. It’s so nice to use my right to vote for the people that will lead my/our Philippines. Hail to all Filipino seafarers."

Larry Reyes said, "Ako po ay taga San Pedro Saug, Lubao, Pampanga. Ako po’y isang seafarer na nagta-trabaho dito sa Netherlands bilang isang steward. Natutuwa po ako na nakaboto ako dito sa ibang bansa (I’m from San Pedro Saug, Lubao, Pampanga. I’m a seafarer working in the Netherlands as a steard. I’m glad to have been able to vote here [even] in another country)"

Lora-Santos estimates around 1,500 registered seafarers for the Netherlands.

She said that the system of voting for seafarers is organized in such a way as to avoid double voting, should a seafarer attempt to vote again in another port.

"They go to us, then we report the same day to the COMELEC and also to the other ports sa buong mundo, etong seafarer na to bumoto na dito kaya (worldwide, this seafarer has already voted here) don’t allow him to vote. But the good thing in the system is that seafarers can now vote anywhere around the world di tulad nung dating eleksyon na pwede lang sila bumoto kung saan sila nag-register (unlike in the previous elections when they were only allowe to vote where they registered). Now they can just vote everywhere," Lora-Santos said.

In other news, postal voting continues to be sluggish in the Netherlands. After two weeks, only 38 ballots had been received by the Embassy from the 2,100 registered OAVs.

The Embassy started an information dissemination effort on OAV by hooking up with a popular Filipino radio program aired in Amsterdam. The radio program is a community service program of the Commission of Filipino Migrant Workers which can also be reached by Filipinos via the Internet.

Through "Atin To," the Embassy hopes to encourage a wider participation in the election during the last two weeks of voting.

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=75257