Group blames Chacha for low OAV turnout

A militant group of overseas Filipino workers in Canada has attributed the low turn out of voters in the overseas absentee voting to the earlier uncertainty in holding this year’s mid-term elections brought about by the Arroyo administration’s efforts in 2006 to tinker with the Constitution. The group Siklab based in Vancouver said a recent survey of Filipino immigrants and youth in Canada showed many of them failed to register before the October 1, 2006 deadline because of the confusion over the possibility of the cancellation of this year’s election for senators. Approximately 40,000 Filipinos live in British Columbia alone, making them the third largest visible minority group in the area. Around 500,000 Filipinos live in Canada. The survey results furnished GMANews.TV showed that only 12.5 percent of the respondents were able to register for the elections while a huge 87.5 percent did not. Twenty-five percent said they did not get information or instruction the registration process while 37.5 percent said they were Canadian citizens. Another 37.5 percent gave no answer. But Duran said the reasons for failing to register were explained during a forum sponsored by Siklab. Administration allies, particularly House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., have aggressively pushed for Charter change in 2006, in which some proposals included the abolition of the Senate by shifting to the parliamentary system of government with a unicameral legislature. "There was some marked confusion in the community about the possibility of the elections being cancelled due to the push of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for Charter Change," Glecy Duran, chair of SIKLAB-BC, said in a press statement. Another factor that largely contributed to the low turn out of voters during the first week of the 30-day overseas balloting period was the lack of information from the country’s representative office in Canada, she said. "The Consul General did not actively promote overseas voter registration resulting in many of our members being disenfranchised in the upcoming elections," Duran said. Although some public information was disseminated by the consulate offices, many noticed a significantly fewer number of public advertisements about the registration deadline for overseas voting compared to the 2003 elections, she added. “Many of those who are qualified to vote, including thousands of Filipino live-in caregivers also did not register because they said they were busy working to earn and send remittances to their families back home and did not have time to inquire about voter registration," Duran further said, noting the outcome of a survey and forum on April 14 in Vancouver. “Others said they were dealing with problems with their employers or were too worried over fears of deportation to register," she noted. Duran said those surveyed said that if they had a chance to vote, most of them said they would choose Gabriela Women’s Party, whose third nominee, Flora Baniaga- Belinan, is an Igorot and worked as a domestic helper in Hong Kong for 12 years. The second party-list choice, she said, was Bayan Muna. The majority of those surveyed also said they would be willing to contact their families and relatives in the Philippines to encourage them to vote for their preferred party-list groups, Duran said. Siklab--BC plans to continue collecting the election surveys until the May 13 elections.- GMANews.TV