RP Post in Netherlands focuses on seafarers for OAV

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau | 03/12/2010 7:05 PM
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THE NETHERLANDS - The Philippine embassy in The Netherlands is exerting extra effort to encourage Filipino seafarers to vote.

One month before the start of the overseas voting, the embassy is busy preparing the list of manning agencies and shipping companies employing Filipino seamen. To ensure that the ballots have been received and the votes mailed, the embassy plans to call each and every one of them.

The mobile nature of jobs in shipping demands additional work for the embassy. According to Consul General Frank Cimafrance, they need to investigate first whether those seamen who were registered in the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) still have existing contracts before they can send the ballots.


“If the contracts are still subsisting, they are still serving aboard the vessel, and they are in the Netherlands, we will make an effort to tell the principal and the manning agent to make sure that the concerned seafarer will be able to fill in those ballots, and we will also ask them to mail those ballots to the embassy before May 10, the closing of the voting period”, said Cimafranca.

According to the official list of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), 21,097 seafarers registered for absentee voting. In the Netherlands alone, it is estimated that there are around 500 Pinoy seamen who dock here at any given day. Sadly, only 200 have registered here for the OAV since 2004.

Despite the announcement of the COMELEC that there will be specially designated voting precincts in 10 major ports around the world, Cimafranca is expecting the majority of votes to be cast by post. And because seafarers usually let their agencies organize their communications, the consul general said that they are ready to personally collect the ballots from the offices of these agencies.

“If they require us to get it back, to retrieve those ballots that are already accomplished, then we will do so just to make sure that our seafarers are not disenfranchised”, he added.

Eager to vote

Ruben Dusong, a seafarer of 10 years, is staying in the port of Rotterdam for a couple of weeks. He hopes that during the election period from April 10 to May 10, he will have the chance to cast his vote.

“If there is a chance to vote and we are at shore, I will definitely vote. I don’t want my vote to go to waste because this is the chance in 6 years. We should vote, this is our right so we can see the new administration and which one is better,” he said in Tagalog.

Another veteran seaman Cristobal Magbanua thinks that their ship might be in Norway during the election period. He also looks forward to docking so he can exercise his right to suffrage.

“If we don’t have an operation, we will vote”, said Magbanua.

Meanwhile, those who were not able to register for the absentee voting feel strong regrets.

“I feel really bad because no matter who I choose, I can’t vote for him because I wasn’t able to register. I really want to vote but I cannot do anything”, said Rasmel Bernaldes, a seaman of 3 years who works with Magbanua in the same company.

Better protection for seamen

Both Magbanua and Dusong are rooting for presidential bet and Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. But they also said that whoever wins, they wish he or she would give better protection and assistance to Filipino seafarers.

Magbanua called on the government to loosen the rules for seamen who are going overseas.

“I hope they will make a way not to press us especially the young officers. They should follow the system here in Holland, there are no exams anymore. They can help our system that way,” said Magbanua.

For his part, Dusong appeals to the incoming government to extend assistance to them when they are not on board.

“Whoever the people vote [for], I only want protection for all the OFWs, especially us, seamen. When we go home, in 6 months we don’t have any income. The government doesn’t give protection in terms of that. I hope they will give attention to this,” he said.

Go out and vote

The embassy in The Netherlands has yet to receive new ballot boxes from COMELEC. But Cimafranca said that they are prepared to retrieve and use the old ballot boxes if the new ones will not be delivered on time. To preserve the sanctity of the ballots, he said that they will ensure the ballot boxes can be properly sealed.

Six hundred Filipinos registered for the absentee voting in the Netherlands; 306 of them are new registrants. Cimafranca called on them to go out and cast their ballots in the coming two months.

“This is our chance especially that this is a presidential election. We can only vote for president, vice president, senators and party-list so use your right to vote and use it wisely,” he said.