TRIPOLI – The Philippine envoy to Libya, Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente, said Tuesday 3,040 registered for the overseas absentee voting (OAV) here out of the close to 20,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Arab Jamahiriya and over 200 of them have already voted for the May 10 elections.

Vicente attended the signing on April 20 at the Islamic Call College (ICC) of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Philippine Government and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The MOU provides continuity for the tripartite review of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement (FPA), hopefully through to the next administration after President Arroyo’s term ends on June 30.
Vicente said that aside from Libya, the diplomatic mission here also has jurisdiction over Algeria, Chad, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Niger.

Vicente said the 20,000-strong Filipino community is only in Libya, working in many parts of the country, in hospitals and other medical facilities, in oil fields and refineries, and in construction companies.

Absentee voting started simultaneously with the rest of OFWs in other parts of the world on April 10, he said.

Voting in Tripoli, the only OAV center in this desert country, is done personally, with workers coming from as far as Benghazi, over 1,000 kilometers away.

That is a problem for the OFWs, he said, because the OFWs are spending their own money for transportation.

“In their desire to participate in the democratic process, they are coming,” he said.

(Bus fare from Benghazi to Tripoli ranges from 30 to 50 Libyan dinar or 22.058 to 33.33 American dollars.)

“We sent letters to the OFWs employers to allow them to vote. We have not heard of any hindrance from their employers,” said the Filipino ambassador.

There is a better response this year from the registered voters in Libya, citing comparisons made by embassy staff to the previous OAV, he said.

Vicente attributed this to the coming political exercise being a contest for president.

Asked about problems of the OFWs, he said these include adjustment with the culture. But being  Filipinos, he said the OFWs are adjusting well.

Vicente also cited problems about OFWs’ contracts not being fulfilled. He did not blame Libyan employers for this, hinting some of the problems on job contracts originate in Manila.

OFWs are coming to the embassy for assistance, which is being addressed through the Assistance to Nationals’ section.

Vicente also cited many OFWs who have been working in Libya for 30 years.