Pinoy seafarers start voting for May polls

Filipino seafarers throughout the world began voting yesterday for the May elections, among about 360,000 citizens overseas casting absentee ballots for the first time in the hotly contested race between incumbent President Arroyo and movie star Fernando Poe Jr.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman Ferdinand Rafanan said about 2,300 Filipinos registered as sailors or other shipbound workers have until May 10 to vote at more than 70 Filipino embassies and consulates. They can also mail ballots in Britain, Japan and Canada.

The rest of about 360,000 overseas Filipinos — mostly domestic and hospital workers — start voting on April 11. Their votes will be counted manually and transmitted to Manila after voting ends on May 10.

This is the first time overseas Filipinos can vote in an election. It is unclear whether their vote will make much of a difference, but it could in a tight race. The Philippines has 37.9 million registered voters, but out of the seven million Filipinos overseas, just 363,959 have registered.

Overseas workers are crucial to the country’s economy, sending home about $7 billion each year that supports millions of people. Most of the workers are scattered around Asia, the Middle East, the United States and Canada.

The election will determine the fate of Mrs. Arroyo as well as the makeup of Congress and thousands of other public positions. Recent voter surveys show Mrs. Arroyo and Poe nearly even.

Meanwhile, presidential candidate Raul Roco is deviating from the handshakes and hugs that highlight a campaign sortie, and is instead making use of the Internet to win the overseas vote.

Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan, spokesman for Roco’s Alyansa ng Pag-asa, said Roco is getting in touch with migrant workers through his official website, www.raulroco.com.

"In terms of cost efficiency, it is better to use the Internet than to go abroad. That way, we reach out to more people at any given time," Galvez-Tan told The STAR.

He said Roco’s messages and platforms of government are posted on his website for the public to view. The Alyansa ng Pag-asa expects to receive the support of 50 percent of registered overseas absentee voters. — Sheila Crisostomo