RIYADH, 13 December 2003 — At least 40 volunteers, who can work full-time, will be needed by the Philippine Embassy to help conduct the Philippine absentee voting exercise in the Kingdom next year.

Embassy officials made the appeal during a meeting with representatives of various community organizations in Riyadh on Thursday.

Vice Consul Romulo Victor Israel Jr. and Cultural Attaché Carmelita Hidalgo said the volunteers will compose the Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) and Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG).

Israel and Hidalgo were among the embassy officials assigned by Ambassador Bahnarim Guinomla to oversee the nomination process.

Other sections of the embassy, such as the labor office, will also be tapped to assist in the voting period, which will be held from April 10 to May 10, 2004.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003, which allows overseas Filipinos to vote for the first time in Philippine national elections, gives absentee voters a month’s time to complete the voting process because they could only cast their votes within the premises of Philippine embassies or consulates.

“Due to the enormous responsibilities that go with the voting process, we are seeking volunteers from the community,” Israel told the meeting.

He said there will be 6 SBRCG and 10 SBEI groups in Riyadh and 3 SBRCG and 6 SBEI in the Eastern Province. The consulate in Jeddah is expected to meet also with community leaders in the Western region this week to seek support.

The SBEI’s task is to ensure the orderly conduct of the voting and counting processes.

The SBRCG is to make sure that the ballots and other election paraphernalia are in order.

One of the convenors of the International Coalition on Overseas Filipinos Voting Rights (ICOFVR) in Riyadh present during the meeting suggested that the information be disseminated to the community to reach as many possible applicants.

“Every migrant Filipinos should be given the opportunity to be informed and volunteer themselves for such cause,” the convenor added.

As announced in the meeting, volunteers will be paid an honorarium to be announced by the Commission on Election in Manila.

A three-day seminar for volunteers had been scheduled tentatively on Jan. 13-15 at the embassy. Attaché Hidalgo said a Comelec representative from Manila will be coming to conduct the orientation.

Under the implementing rules of the overseas absentee law, only Filipino citizens could be assigned to the SBEI and SBRCG, provided or their spouses are not related within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any member of the same SBEI or SRBCG. They should also not be related to any of the candidates for president, vice president, and senator or to their spouses, and to any of the nominees for the party-list system of representation or to their spouses.

Alfredo Ganapin of ICOFVR suggested that the volunteer must also be a registered absentee voter.

Among the suggestions raised during the meeting was that volunteers should be thoroughly screened to select those who have “sound and independent judgment,” who can fulfill daily task with reportorial requirements that go with the job, and a “volunteerist spirit,”something Filipinos are not lacking.

During the last period of OAV registration, embassy officials and volunteers worked “ocho-ocho,” or 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., to accommodate big numbers of late registrants.

Mike Bolos, also of ICOFVR, suggested that teachers in Philippine schools in the Kingdom should be specifically sought to volunteer. In the Philippines, teachers are generally known to be fair and independent-minded. And most of all, they are hard-working.

Vice Consul Israel said those who are interested and qualified to volunteer their services as members of the SBEI and SBRCG may attend the meeting scheduled tomorrow at the embassy at 8 p.m., or call the information counter at 482-3559 for more details.

Israel said that the embassy will follow up its request to the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to allow again the setting up of a voting center for the Eastern Province, possibly in Alkhobar. During the voters registration from August to September, the embassy was allowed to put up an extension office at the International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA).