PHILIPPINE EMBASSY IN PRAGUE HOSTS FOREIGN SERVICE POSTS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA FOR THEIR TRAINING ON THE RESUMPTION OF CONTINUING REGISTRATION OF QUALIFIED OVERSEAS FILIPINOS FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL ELECTIONS
Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ombra T. Jainal welcomed 48 officials from 18 Philippine Foreign Service Posts in the Middle East and Africa, Portugal and the Czech Republic, on the first day of their training on the General Instruction for the Resumption of Continuing Registration for Qualified Overseas Filipino Voters for purposes of the 2022 National Elections at the Grandium Hotel, Prague on 27 November 2019. The training, which is conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs – Overseas Voting Secretariat, will run until 29 November 2019.
Commissioner Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon, Commissioner-in-Charge of the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV), extended the appreciation of the COMELEC and its Chairman to the men and women of the Philippine Foreign Service who remain active partners in the implementation of the Overseas Voting Law. She also shared OFOV’s ongoing discussions on plans to ensure a seamless overseas voting experience in the future.
The DFA’s Undersecretary for Consular, Civilian and Special Concerns Brigido DJ Dulay expressed confidence in the ability of Foreign Service Posts to register up to two million qualified overseas Filipinos by the end of the registration period in September 2021. He stated that as “the front liners in the electoral process overseas,” foreign service personnel “are the primary duty bearers of the State’s obligation to ensure that all qualified citizens of the Philippines abroad are able to exercise their fundamental right. Not just to register or to vote, but more importantly, the right to have a ‘voice’ in the elections. After all, a citizen registering to vote or casting a ballot is engaged in free speech – a basic right under our constitution’s Bill of Rights.”
Registration for overseas voting for purposes of the 2022 National Elections will commence at all Philippine Embassies and Consulates on 16 December 2019.
Foreign Service Officers and Staff from Middle East and Africa listen intently to the remarks of Commissioner Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon at the Grandium Hotel, Prague on 27 November 2019.
