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Press Release: |
29 April 2006
Register Before May 7, Dual Citizens Told
The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco is advising
dual citizens (those who reacquired Philippine Citizenship under
R.A. 9225) who have not registered as overseas absentee voters
(OAV) to sign up before May 7, 2006, to be eligible to vote
in the May 2007 elections.
The Consulate’s advice is pursuant to a Commission on
Election (COMELEC) ruling declaring dual citizens as ineligible
to vote if they register less than one year before the date
of the elections in which they intend to vote.
“Since under the Constitution, national (senatorial and party list)
elections must be held on May 7, 2007, dual citizens, therefore,
must have registered as absentee voters before May 7 this year,”
Consul General Maria Rowena Mendoza Sanchez said.
The Consul General explained, however, that other classes of
overseas absentee voters, such as immigrants (permanent residents),
overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), tourists, or those on official
or diplomatic visas, as well as the dual citizens who had previously
registered, shall be eligible to vote because the one-year rule
does not apply to them.
In the 2004 national elections, the COMELEC disqualified dual
citizens who registered in September 2003 from voting, arguing
that they needed one year from regaining their Philippine citizenship
in order to be considered as having reacquired their domicile
in the Philippines.
Dual citizens affected by the ruling, through the National Federation
of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFA), contested the ruling
before the Supreme Court, which has yet to resolve the issue.
The Consulate however said that Bay Area dual citizen voters
have mostly been given the go-signal to vote in 2007, having
met the one-year rule, and been issued voters’ identification
cards which may be obtained at the Consulate’s OAV section.
Continuing OAV registration is being conducted at the Consulate
on weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., until August 31, 2006.
Field and mobile registrations in other cities in the Bay Area
and other states, meanwhile, are being planned, announcements
on which will be made shortly.
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