PH Embassy, Consulate General Officials Attend COMELEC Training in Prague

Commissioner Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon delivers her remarks before Foreign Service Officers and Staff from Middle East and Africa, at the Grandium Hotel, Prague on 27 November 2019. (Prague PE photo)

PRAGUE 29 November 2019 – Ahead of the 2022 National Elections, officials from various Philippine embassies and consulates general attended the training on the General Instruction for the Resumption of Continuing Registration for Qualified Overseas Filipino Voters, at the Grandium Hotel, Prague from 27 to 29 November 2019.

Conducted by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs – Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA-OVS), the training gathered a total of 48 officials from 18 Philippine embassies and consulates general in the Middle East and Africa, Portugal and the Czech Republic. Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic Ombra T. Jaina welcomed the participants.

Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) Commissioner-in-Charge Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon shared OFOV’s ongoing discussions on plans to ensure a seamless overseas voting experience in the future. She also extended the appreciation of COMELEC and its Chairman to the men and women of the Philippine Foreign Service, who remain active partners in the implementation of the Overseas Voting Law.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Consular, Civilian and Special Concerns Brigido DJ Dulay expressed confidence in the ability of Philippine embassies and consulates general to register up to two million qualified overseas Filipinos by the end of the registration period in September 2021. He stated that as “the front liners in the electoral process overseas,” foreign service personnel “are the primary duty bearers of the State’s obligation to ensure that all qualified citizens of the Philippines abroad can exercise their fundamental right. Not just to register or to vote, but more importantly, the right to have a ‘voice’ in the elections. After all, a citizen registering to vote or casting a ballot is engaged in free speech – a basic right under our constitution’s Bill of Rights.”

Registration for overseas voting for purposes of the 2022 National Elections will commence at all Philippine Embassies and Consulates on 16 December 2019. END

Commissioner Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon extends the appreciation of COMELEC to the men and women of the Department of Foreign Affairs for the partnership and cooperation in the implementation of the Overseas Voting Law. (Prague PE photo)

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido DJ Dulay expresses his confidence in the ability of foreign service personnel to outperform themselves by registering up to two million qualified Filipinos overseas for the 2022 National Elections. (Prague PE photo)

Ambassador Ombra T. Jainal welcomes officials from COMELEC, DFA-OVS, and Foreign Service Posts in the Middle East and Africa and Czech Republic for their training on the Registration of Qualified Filipinos Overseas for the 2022 National Elections. (Prague PE photo)

Chargé d’Affaires, e.p. Alex Lamadrid, Ambassador Ombra T. Jainal, Commissioner Maria Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon, Undersecretary Brigido DJ Dulay, and Minister and Consul General Indhira C. Bañares join all participants in the Training on the General Instruction for the Resumption of Continuing Registration for Qualified Overseas Filipino Voters for purposes of the 2022 National Elections at the Grandium Hotel, Prague on 27 November 2019. (Prague PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.praguepe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHinCzechRepublic/.