OPEN
Letter to our Migrant Families on Urgent Appeal on Absentee Voting BillAmsterdam, January 14, 2002
Mga Magulang at Mga Kapatid!
We urgently need your participation in our campaign to ensure the passage of the legislation of Overseas Voting during this Session of Congress which has convened on January 14th, 2002. Our successful campaigning efforts have succeeded in putting the Absentee Voting Bill high on the legislative agenda of this 12th Congress.
The Bill being deliberated in the House of Representatives and in the Senate substantively reflects our position that all Overseas Filipinos be enabled to vote and that the appropriate mechanisms be put in place to facilitate the proper conduct and implementation of Absentee Voting. For our part, we have committed ourselves to co-operation with the COMELEC and the Philippine Embassies as well as to mobilisation of the Filipino migrant community organisations and other international organisations to ensure the integrity of the voting process.
At this stage the Bill has run into difficulties and delays despite the fact that active support for the passage of the Bill has been publicly given by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Speaker of the House, Honourable Jose de Venecia and Senate President, Honourable Franklin Drilon as well as by many individual Congress Representatives and Senators.
In order to be implemented in time for the 2004 Election, it is essential that the Bill will be passed within the period of this session of the Congress – that is on or before May 2002 at the latest. Then the COMELEC can complete all the necessary preparations for our participation in Elections 2004.
This is why we need your immediate action! We believe that if each of our migrant families writes an Urgent Appeal to the Congress and Senate that this will really make the crucial difference in achieving the immediate passage of the Bill. We are enclosing a "Model Appeal" so you can use it, as you think best. Please also ask your neighbours or your Parish Priest or Parish Minister to also write a similar letter. The Urgent Appeal should be sent separately to Senate President, Honourable Franklin Drilon; the Speaker of the House, Honourable Jose de Venecia and to the Congress Representative in your district by post or by fax.
The main points to stress are:
On behalf of the Platform of Filipino Migrant Organisations in Europe
Signed by the Platform Council Members
_________________________________
_________________________________
For Urgent Attention of : Speaker of the House, Honourable Jose de Venecia
Congress Representative …………………
Re: Immediate Passage of the Absentee Voting Bill
Honorable Jose de Venecia
Speaker of the House
House of Representatives
Batasang Pambansa
Queson City, Philippines
Tel/fax: 63 2 9325258/63 2 9316437
Dear Honorable Members of the Philippine 12th Congress
We have been following the developments concerning the tabling and processing of the Overseas Voting Bill in Congress. We actively support the campaign of our children, relatives and Kababayans abroad in demanding the immediate passage of the Bill. It is a constitutional and fundamental right to be able to vote and participate in elections. Despite this, our Overseas families have been denied the right to exercise their vote for 14 years. Now is the time for you to act and pass the Bill by the end of this current Session of Congress, on or before May 2002.
Signature: _________________________
Address: ___________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
For Urgent Attention of: Senate President, Honourable Franklin Drilon
Re: Immediate Passage of the Absentee Voting Bill
Senate President, Honourable Franklin Drilon
Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel/Fax: 63 2 5512993
Dear Honourable Members of the Philippine 12th Congress,
We have been following the developments concerning the tabling and processing of the Overseas Voting Bill in Congress. We actively support the campaign of our children, relatives and Kababayans abroad in demanding the immediate passage of the Bill. It is a constitutional and fundamental right to be able to vote and participate in elections. Despite this, our Overseas families have been denied the right to exercise their vote for 14 years. Now is the time for you to act and pass the Bill by the end of this current Session of Congress, on or before May 2002.
Signature: _________________________
Address: ___________________________