OAV registration has yet to start in Macau, group complains

MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos in Macau and Hongkong on Wednesday deplored the Commission on Elections’s failure to send a registration unit to Macau and the continued non-functioning of most units in Hong Kong to enable them to register for Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV).

Buhay Bangcawayan, secretary-general of Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Hong Kong, said OAV registration has yet to start in Macau because no funding was provided by the Comelec for the shipment of the required machines from HK.

“To make matters worse, only two units of the registration machine in HK were operational for two weeks since registration started in February 1," she said.

Bangcawayan expressed apprehension that many OFWs will not be able to exercise their right to vote next year if the the Comeec and Philippine Embassy officials do not put their acts together. She said the registration has already been delayed by two months.

The OAV registration, which ends on August 31, 2009, was supposed to start Dec. 1, 2008 but this was postponed for Feb 1, 2009 due to problems with some computer systems.

Bangcawayan said that despite the recent repair of another nine digital cameras in Hong Kong, most of the units used before remain non-functional.

If the scarcity of machines as well as the dismal information drive on OAV registration continues, tens of thousands of Filipinos in Macau and HK shall “again find themselves voiceless during election time," she said.

“Spin doctors of the DFA have announced in a press release of the Comelec on February 11 that all is well and smooth for the OAV registration. But the situation in Macau and HK indicate otherwise. In addition to this, up to now, there is no budget for the OAV in the different posts around the world," she said.

Bangcawayan believed that the lackluster effort of the government to push through with the OAV is due to the proven experience in the past that overseas votes are usually for the opposition.

“Migrant workers are very much aware of the neglect and irresponsibility of the administration to our rights and wellbeing. The most recent moves to ban direct hiring and increase fees for passport and authentication and verification of contracts are just some of the concrete policies of the government that make our situation worse," she said.

The group demanded for sufficient resources to be provided to the OAV registration that will only run until August 31. Bangcawayan demanded, in particular, that registration machines be sent immediately to Macau and for the registration system in Hong Kong to improve.

"What this government is only good at is collecting fees from OFWs and depriving us of services. The fundamental right to vote of OFWs must not be made to suffer due to incompetence and irresponsibility of this administration," she concluded. - D’Jay Lazaro, GMANews.TV

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