PCGNY.net | News Release

Consular officials in New York promote OAV on radio

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE - NEWS RELEASE
07 May 2007

NEW YORK --- Consular officials were heard on Radyo Pinoy, a Filam-owned radio broadcast station that airs from Bloomfield, New Jersey, on Friday, May 4, encouraging registered overseas absentee voters to cast their votes.

Vice Consul Leandro Lachica and Consular Assistant Jose Jacinto Morales were interviewed live by Ka Lino Celle, owner and host of Radyo Pinoy, during the station’s Friday night weekly program, “Sapagkat Mahal Kita” sponsored by Western Union.

Lachica and Morales answered questions that focused on the security of overseas absentee ballots. They informed listeners that the ballots are highly secure owing to various safety measures introduced by the Commission on Election Commissions (COMELEC). They explained that is it not possible for someone to misrepresent another person’s ballot as his or her own. This is because the Foreign Service Posts that will receive and count duly accomplished OAV ballots will compare the signature of the voter with the signature appearing in the approved voter registration record. “If the signatures are not identical, we will not open and count the ballot,” Lachica said. He also informed listeners about the COMELEC-generated paper seal. He said that voters are to use the seal in closing the envelope containing their ballot. “If the paper seal is broken or altered, we will not count the ballot,” Lachica further explained.

Radyo Pinoy can be heard all over New York and New Jersey and is simulcast 10 a.m. Friday evenings, New York time, and 10 a.m., all over the Philippines via DZXL-RMN.