Try your best to register, Global Filipinos INQ7.net
October 12, 2006
Dear Global Filipinos:
There is a consensus that the present Overseas Absentee Voting Law and its Implementing Rules and Regulations have severe constraints.
It is very inconvenient for many to register physically in the nearest Consulate General. For these global Filipinos, the travel time would be several hours up to one or two days.
Hundreds of thousands of seafarers are unable to register. They are at port of call only for hours or a few days. It is not possible for them to travel to the nearest Consulate General, which could be hundreds of miles away.
The deadline for registration for the 2007 election is Oct. 31, 2006.
We urge global Filipino citizens to exert all possible effort to register by the deadline.
The Philippine Consulates General within the United States have recommended to Comelec continuing, uninterrupted voter registration, with a designated cut-off date for determining inclusion for a particular election.
A Statement by the Global Filipino Community, among others, concurs with the recommendation on continuing, uninterrupted voter registration.
We must exert all efforts to register soonest, while we push our agenda for removing the constraints.*
Long live the Motherland.
VICTOR S. BARRIOS Moderator/Convenor, Global Filipino Forum * Chair, Global Filipinos Coalition
LITO GUTIERREZ Moderator/Convenor, Global Filipino Forum Editor in Chief, Philippine News
