Go Out and Vote

Two days from now, registered overseas Filipino absentee voters will start to cast their votes for the twelve senatorial positions being contested by about thirty candidates. In addition, they are also to vote for one party list candidate of their choice.

In Hongkong, pre-election activities included a mock poll of senatorial candidates where the Genuine Opposition team proved to be the candidates of choice. In the US, the OFs were kept busy pushing the Comelec to approve the certificate of candidacy of Ted Aquino, while here in Riyadh members of the OFW Congress opted to launch a “Go Out and Vote” campaign.

Saudi Arabia is home to about a million overseas Filipinos. It is sad to note however that of that huge number, only a little over 100,000 are registered absentee voters. That figure may even go down considering the possibility that some of those who registered for the 2004 elections may have left the Kingdom already. It is therefore the objective of the Go Out and Vote campaign to ensure that majority of the registered absentee voters are able to cast their votes during the one month voting period which starts on April 14.

Aside from the registered absentee voters, the Go Out and Vote campaign also encourages all overseas Filipinos to advise members of their families, relatives, and friends back home to go out and vote during the May 14 election. The OFW Congress leadership believes that real OFW power still rest back home – among OFW family members and relatives. It is therefore important that this power block be tapped to ensure that the ones elected are only those who have shown real support and commitment to the cause of overseas Filipinos.

During the launch of the campaign two weeks ago, the profiles of the senatorial candidates were presented to the attending Congress members. Printed copies of those profiles will be distributed to community leaders and/or company representatives for further distribution to OFWs in their respective organizations/companies. Included also in the campaign materials are the list of genuine party lists groups, as well as those deemed as fake and are just fronts of a few interested individuals out to bastardize the party list system and screw the party list representation in the House.

The campaign materials also include pro-forma text messages which the OFW is encourage to send to members of his family and friends.

Ano pa ang hinihintay mo? Sabihan na si tatay, si inay, at si bunso: “Lumabas, Makialam, at Bomoto sa Mayo 14 – ang boto ninyo, ay boto naming mga OFW”.