This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 11, April 22-28, 2007
ELECTION WATCH
Filipinos and Filipino-Australians would elect eight Genuine Opposition
senatorial candidates, one independent candidate also known as an oppositionist,
and only three pro-Arroyo Team Unity candidates, according to a survey condcted
across the Australian states and territories. BY
CAESAR BEN BASAN BAROŃA Filipinos and
Filipino-Australians would elect eight ‘Genuine Opposition’ senatorial
candidates, one independent candidate also known as an oppositionist, and only
three pro-Arroyo Team Unity candidates, according to a survey conducted across
the Australian states and territories. The survey, which simply
asked respondents their voting preferences for the Philippine Senate elections,
was commissioned by Migrante-Australia, an advocacy group of Filipinos and
Filipino-Australians. A total of 129 potential voters responded via email
messaging, by phone and through face-to-face interviews from April 12-15, 2007.
According to Edwin Subijano,
Migrante-Australia president, the results “indicate strongly that Filipinos
living in Australia are rejecting the regime of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,
a regime marked by controversies.” He outlined such controversies as centering
on such issues as:
On-going summary executions and illegal arrests of human rights advocates,
peasants, workers and other activists in a reign of terror against dissenting
voices (over 900 killed since January 2001) justified by the rhetoric of the
“war on terror;”
Strong evidence pointing to the regime (of Arroyo) rigging of the 2004
Presidential election narrowly won by Arroyo;
Continuing poverty driving record numbers of Filipinos overseas in search of
employment to provide for their families;
Deepening suppression of the rights of Filipino workers as harsh labour laws,
combined with anti-worker propaganda that equates collective action by workers
to terrorism;
Cronyism and corruption at heightened levels reaching up to the very heart of
the regime, including involving Pres Arroyo and her husband.
“Australian-based Filipinos work extremely hard
to be able to provide additional support to their families who are suffering in
the Philippines,” Subijano said. “Added to their concerns is the repression of
workers’ rights in the Philippines.”
“Filipinos in Australia also suffer worsening
employment conditions due to the Howard Government’s “WorkChoices” legislation,”
he added, referring to the flexible work place and conditions arrangements
brought about by the Australian government's industrial relations policy
introduced last year.
Ever since the dual citizenship law and overseas
voting act were passed, Filipino citizens abroad could vote in Philippine
elections, although the political exercise has been marred by difficulties such
as getting to the proper embassies or consulates and the lack of information
drive.
The top 12 results are:
1) Legarda, Loren (Nationalist People's
Coalition [Genuine Opposition]): 123
2) Recto, Ralph: (Lakas-CMD [Team Unity]) 98
3) Cayetano, Alan Peter (Nacionalista Party
[Genuine Opposition]): 96
4) Pangilinan, Francis: (Liberal Party
[Independent]) 95
5) Villar, Manuel: (Nacionalista Party [Genuine
Opposition]) 93
6) Aquino, Benigno S (Liberal Party [Genuine
Opposition]): 89
7) Escudero, Francis J: (Nationalist People's
Coalition [Genuine Opposition]) 84
8) Arroyo, Joker: (Kabalikat ng Malayang
Pilipino [Team Unity]) 69
9) Pimentel, Aquilino: (PDP-Laban [Genuine
Opposition]) 68
10) Lacson, Panfilo: (UNO [Genuine Opposition])
64
11) Roco, Sonia: (Aksyon Demokratiko [Genuine
Opposition]) 58
12) Angara, Edgardo: (LABAN (Team Unity)) 57
“Clearly, in this climate, Filipino Australians
are looking for change in the Philippines to solve the fundamental problems of
the country and bring peace, democracy and prosperity to all in the country,”
said Subijano, commenting on the survey results. A flaw in the survey was
that it also included a few Australian citizens, albeit with Filipino origin or
descent. Bulatlat © 2007 Bulatlat
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