A third set of proposals was e-mailed to Philippine Press Sec. Jesus Dureza in the morning of Nov. 26, 2008. The proposals were to be transmitted to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA). The proposals are part of the platform of government and the socioeconomic programs that an Overseas-Filipino coalition or an OFW-led strategic alliance will present to the Filipino voters during the May 2010 national elections – as components of their proposed “Covenant with the Filipino People.”

Here is the reproduction in its entirety of the proposals sent to PGMA through Secretary Dureza:

The Honorable Press Sec. Jesus Dureza

Office of the Press Secretary

Office of the President

Manila, Philippines

Dear Secretary Dureza:

The following are the additional questions that our (Overseas-Filipino Workers) OFW-led political alliance wants to ask the Office of President (OP) -- because we will do them if we win the 2010 national elections in May 2010:

1.0    Why can't the OP move for the COMELEC to permit voter's registration by mail for Overseas Filipinos who have renewed their passport, complete with computer-generated photograph and personal data? Why can't the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) forward to, or share the OFWs' and Overseas-Filipino's photo and personal data with, the COMELEC and all the overseas voter-applicants will simply do is to fill up a form and mail them, accompanied by a self-addressed stamped return envelope for the voter's ID?

        1.1    Is it not logical to allow voting-application by mail because the COMELEC does voting by mail, just like it did to US-based Filipino voters in the 2007 elections?

        1.2    Why can't the Philippine diplomatic posts be provided with 35-footer recreational vehicles (RV) that can be a mobile office, complete with computers and electronic gadgets to do voter's registration, passport application, notarial services and other outreach services? (To provide funding for this, please refer to the next question 2.1).

2.0    Why can't Philippine diplomatic posts retain ten-percent (10%) of its collection from passport-renewal or issuance and notarial fees and other income and use the amount to provide more support to the Overseas-Filipino communities in their respective territories?

        2.1    The Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles is said to be earning more-than $2.7-million in revenue per year. Allocating $270,000 will help pay for, and maintain, the RV (as mentioned in question 1.2) and help the less-fortunate Overseas Filipinos, especially the senior citizens and the veterans.

3.0    Why can't the OFWs and Overseas Filipinos elect Party-list members or full members of the House of Representatives at the ratio of one seat for every 250,000 Overseas Filipinos?

4.0    Why can't the closed Philippine consulates in San Diego (CA), Houston (TX) and Seattle (WA) be reopened with their local Filipino-American communities be asked to provide volunteer staffing and funding support?

        4.1    Why can't a Philippine consulate be established in Detroit (MI) that can service also the Filipino-Canadian community at Windsor (Canada) which is just across the Great Lake?

        4.2    In fact, why can't a Philippine Center (PC) be built in areas where there are substantial numbers of Filipino Americans and/or Overseas Filipinos, with the PC housing a Philippine consulate, trade and tourism offices and other representative offices of Philippine companies and community organizations, including even a modest hotel run by a Philippine hotel company?

                    4.2.1    I have written the formula of generating the funding for the proposed PC, starting in Houston (TX) as found in these links:

            It Is Time to Reinvent the Filipino Presence in America and Build Philippine Centers

Turning a Dream of a Philippine Center into a Viable Reality (Part 2)

New Asian Town Can Be the Model for Developing Historic Filipinotown and the FACLA Property

                    4.2.2    Perhaps Her Excellency, PGMA, may initiate the building of these proposed Philippine Centers, starting in Houston and at the FACLA property in Los Angeles, so that the centers can be her legacy and testament to her Administration that will end on June 30, 2010?

5.0    Why can't the Arroyo Administration recognize and push the celebration of a "Philippine Presidents' Day" that we stated doing in Los Angeles every March 17th (the death anniversary of President Ramon Magsaysay) since 2006?

        5.1    Why can't we all help in building Presidential Libraries in the Philippines for all the Philippine Presidents? The proposed Presidential Library can be repository of Philippine history and literature that transpired or produced during the term of the Philippine President? On the right approach, Overseas-Filipino communities may be willing to fund the construction and maintenance of the said Presidential Libraries.

6.0    Why can't the Philippine Government copy the example of Israel and ask the Filipino-American community -- especially the Filipino-American lawyers and press -- to handle lobbying in Washington, DC, and in the most-important State capitals by forming the Filipino equivalent of the Jewish-American Public Affairs Office? The Jewish version relies on the resources of the Jewish-American community for its operations and funding, with little budgetary aid from Tel Aviv.

        6.1    To give you an idea of this concept, please read my article as found in this hyperlink:

Philippine Foreign Aid to the U.S.A.

I do not expect your esteemed office and/or the OP to provide answers to the above-stated questions tonight at the dinner-press conference but you may do so at your convenience after your return to Manila. We -- at the OFW-led political movement -- can work with the Arroyo Administration to further improve the socioeconomic conditions of our homeland. Or we can continue to take adversarial positions.

Thank you for the attention.

Very respectfully yours,

Bobby M. Reyes

Editor

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