Migrant rights group urges Pinoys abroad to guard OAV

As Filipinos abroad gear up for the start of the overseas absentee voting (OAV) on April 10, a migrants' rights group based in the Middle East urged their overseas compatriots Thursday to remain vigilant and help guard their votes.

John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator, said Filipino overseas communities and organizations should actively participate in periodic elections “through overseas absentee voting" and make sure to “elect principled and responsible" candidates who can effect the “desired change in governance and in society in general."

Monterona said OFW communities and groups can play a vital role in making OAV successful.

“For one, OFWs organizations could very well remind and urge their members who are registered absentee voters to cast their votes during the 1-month absentee voting," he added.

Monterona explained that Migrante chapters in the Middle East will officially call on their members and urge fellow OFWs to cast their votes early, especially for those who are far from designated polling precincts usually located in Philippine embassies, consular offices, and foreign service establishments.

Monterona said the encouragement and concrete services that OFW organizations can provide their members could greatly boost the OAV turnout. The voter turnout among overseas Filipinos has been dwindling in previous elections.

Accredited OFW organizations are allowed to designate a watcher each to their respective posts as per the OAV law and COMELEC-promulgated general instructions, Monterona said, citing COMELEC Resolutions No. 8750 and 8751 which govern the conduct of manual and electronic OAV.

The function of designated watchers of OFW groups is central to safeguarding the votes of overseas Filipinos, he added.

“We view that the May 10 elections as a mixture of threats and opportunities. We would be very careful and vigilant of such threats as killings, violence, vote padding and shaving, and failure of elections, among others. But we should also maximize the opportunity that elections give us in choosing good, principled, and responsible leaders," according to Monterona.

OAV is set to start on April 10, a Saturday, and will last for a month. Majority of the polling precincts for OAV have announced that they will be open even on Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate the influx of OFWs who have free time to vote only during weekends.—JV, GMANews.TV

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