14 May 2004, Kuala Lumpur – Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Domingo Albert today said that much of the success of the recently held overseas absentee voting can be attributed to the high sense of civic duty of overseas Filipinos.  The Secretary made this statement when she met with the members of the Filipino Community in Malaysia at a dinner hosted by and held at the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

“The overseas absentee voting exercise was an important part of our history as a democratic nation.  It was with the active participation and cooperation of the Filipino Community that we were able to face the many challenges that this exercise entailed,” Secretary Albert told the members of the Filipino Community.

Secretary Albert was in Malaysia to attend the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Committee on Palestine (13 May) and for an official bilateral visit (14 May).

In her remarks during the meeting, Secretary Albert made particular mention of the important role that Filipino Community  volunteers  played  in  ensuring  the success of the  overseas  absentee  voting.  “The work and dedication  of  Filipino  Community  volunteers  were  particularly inspiring.   They  stood side-by-side  with government workers at every step of the process to ensure the success of the elections.”

The  Secretary  also  noted  that  the  turn-out  of  overseas  absentee  voting  matched  the   Department’s expectations, pointing out that the absentee voter turn-out of Malaysia was among the highest, together with that of Hong Kong and  Singapore.

Present at the meeting were members and leaders of Filipino Community civic action, religious, church and sports groups.

During the meeting, the Secretary also discussed the main objectives of Philippine foreign policy and the latest developments in the country. END.