Rules and Guidelines on Overseas Absentee Voting now Out

ATTENTION: ALL FILIPINO CITIZENS ABROAD, 18 YEARS OLD &ABOVE

Ø WHAT: You may now participate in Philippine national elections under the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9189) signed into law on February 13, 2003

Ø YOU may vote for PRESIDENT, VICE PRESIDENT, SENATORS and PARTY-LIST Representatives in the MAY 10, 2004 elections.

Ø HOW may you QUALIFY?

YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED OVERSEAS ABSENTEE VOTER.

MANNER and PROCEDURE for REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION Period:

01 AUGUST – 30 SEPTEMBER 2003

1. Manner: PERSONAL APPEARANCE

2. WHERE to apply:

a. If you are already abroad: at the Philippine Embassy or consulate or other foreign service establishment

b. If you are still in the Philippines: With the Election Registration Board (ERB) of Comelec in your town/city/district

FOR SEAFARERS:

a. At the Philippine embassy or consulate or other foreign service establishment where your vessel is docked

b. If you are still in the Philippines:

i) With the Election Registration Board (ERB) of Comelec in your town/city/district; OR

ii) With the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting at Comelec in Intramuros (7th Floor, Palacio del Gobernador)

[Please check the embassy or consulate or other foreign service establishment that covers your location in the list provided herewith]

3. WHAT TO APPLY FOR, SIMULTANEOUSLY:

a. Application for Registration as an Overseas Absentee Voter (For first time registrants); OR

b. Application for Certification as an Overseas Absentee Voter if You are already a registered voter prior to departure from the Philippines

AND

c. Application to Vote in Absentia

d. FOR IMMIGRANTS and Permanent Residents: A sworn statement to return and establish actual physical permanent residence in the Philippines within 3 years upon approval of the application form and that you have never applied for citizenship in another country.

[THE Comelec-prescribed ALL-IN-ONE application form is available from the Comelec, embassy, consulate and may also be downloaded from the Comelec (comelec.gov.ph) and the DFA websites (dfa.gov.ph)]

4. DOCUMENTS required for registration:

a. Presentation of valid Philippine passport and photocopy of pertinent page/s OR substitute document as approved by DFA

b. Accomplished Comelec-prescribed ALL-IN-ONE application form

c. Additional FOR SEAFARERS: Presentation of Seaman’s Book and photocopy

GO OUT AND REGISTER!!!!

BOTO MO, KARAPATAN MO, GAMITIN MO.

***************

CASTING AND SUBMISSION OF BALLOTS

q Period for casting and submission of ballots:

Ø For LAND-BASED Overseas Filipinos: April 11, 2004 - May 10, 2004, 3:00p.m. Philippine time

Ø For SEA-BASED Overseas Filipinos: March 12, 2004 – May 10, 2004, 3:00 pm. Philippine time

q Manner of Voting:

Ø PERSONAL at the Philippine Embassy or consulate or other foreign service establishment or at any polling place designated and accredited by the COMELEC

Ø BY MAIL to the Philippine Embassy or consulate or other foreign service establishment in Canada, Japan and United Kingdom

COUNTING AND CANVASSING OF VOTES

The counting and canvassing of votes shall be conducted on site in the country where the votes were actually cast, within the premises of the embassies, consulates and other foreign service establishments or in such other places as may be designated by the COMELEC.

The start of counting in all polling places abroad shall be synchronized with the start of counting in the Philippines.

Where feasible, the counting and canvassing of votes shall be automated.

RA9189 is certainly not the perfect piece of enabling legislation that we have campaigned for. But having one finally being enacted into law, after more than 16 years of lobbying Congress to fulfill the mandate of the 1987 Philippine Constitution Article V Section 2, is still a little positive step in the direction of the political empowerment of overseas Filipinos.

For additional information, contact :

Ø The Philippine embassies, consulates and other foreign service establishments

Ø COMELEC, Office of the Chair of the Committee on Overseas Absentee Voting, Commissioner Florentino Tuason, Jr. –Phone: +632 527 5576; +632 527 0829

Ø Department of Foreign Affairs Hotline: +632 833 0914; +632 833 0686