AKYAT BARKO - OAV in Lisbon Portugal hits 6,171 Filipino Seafarers

Philippine Embassy in Lisbon sets record 6,000 Filipino seafarers registered as OAV period ends

The Philippine Embassy in Lisbon reported that it successfully concluded its registration activities for the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) for the 2013 national elections with a record number of almost 6,000 Filipino seafarers who filed their applications during the Embassy´s six-month long Akyat-Barko campaign.

Inspired by the success during its first ship mobile registration in May this year onboard the cruise ship MS Crystal Symphony and the warm response of the Filipino crew, the Embassy´s OAV team embarked on a series of visits to various ships which called on the ports of Lisbon and Porto in Northern Portugal.

Overcoming the challenges posed by the shortage in manpower, resources, and some technical issues, the Embassy was able to visit 57 ships which had their brief stopovers in  Lisbon and Porto. Among the ships visited by the OAV team belong to Costa Cruises, Aida Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Hapag-Lloyd, Saga, Holland America Lines, Silver Cruises, MSC Cruises, Fred Olsen, Crystal, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and other shipping companies.

Overall, the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon was able to receive and process 6,171 applications for registration, certification and transfer of records for the OAV including those from land-based overseas Filipinos. Philippine Ambassador to Portugal, Philippe J. Lhuillier who assumed his post in Lisbon only in October 8 was the last registrant until the closing hours of the embassy on October 31, the last day of registration.

With the opening of the Philippine Embassy in Lisbon in 2010, Filipinos living in Portugal no longer have to travel to Paris to avail of consular services and to register for the overseas absentee voting. Filipino seafarers, many of whom have not voted for more than 10 years because of their frequent absence from the Philippines during election time, are grateful to the Embassy for bringing the OAV registration closer to them.  

Ambassador Lhuillier praised the OAV team headed by Third Secretary and Vice Consul Rogelio Villanueva Jr. for their exemplary performance and dedication to duty whose members had to sacrifice their weekends and holidays for the OAV including the almost impossible task of boarding of three big cruise ships in a single day. The Ambassador recalled that in the Queen Mary 2 alone, the Embassy was able to register 365 Filipino seafarers.

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Asian Development Bank: British “Don’t miss the train” Invest PPP in the Philippines

Bridge Linking Cebu Airport - The Mactan Cebu International Airport 

British firms being wooed to invest in PPP

British firms are being urged to consider opportunities in the Philippines as the government is rolling out its public-private partnership (PPP) projects and as the country's investment climate is improving.

Speaking at the PPP and Infrastructure Forum and Mission, Asian Development Bank (ADB) country economist Aziz Haydarov said it is time to look at available opportunities in the Philippines as the government is looking for partners for various infrastructure projects.

"Don't miss the train," he said.

For his part, British Ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lillie shared the same view, citing that huge opportunities are available here for British companies as reforms have been undertaken by the Philippine government to improve the business environment through anti-corruption efforts.

He said the reforms undertaken are among the reasons why British companies are keen to be engaged in the country.

"I believe the time is right to take this cooperation to a new level. The commercial opportunities in the Philippines are huge...Investment now can be the platform needed for sustained growth in the years ahead," he said.

Government officials said opportunities are available in the transport and health sectors.

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said opportunities are in the transport sector such as the extension of the Light Rail Transit Line 1 to Cavite, the unified ticketing system for all railways, as well as the development of the Mactan-Cebu International airport, among others.

Cebu Airport - The Mactan Cebu International Airport

In the health sector, Health undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa said in the same event that several opportunities are likewise available as the government is looking to modernize hospitals to provide health care.

In particular, Herbosa said, the government is working on the modernization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center which would involve the construction of a 700-bed capacity hospital within the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City.

The government, he added, is planning to set-up eight cancer centers in the country with cancer being a common cause of death among Filipinos.

"The government owns two cancer centers, one in Tagum in Davao and one in the Lung Center (of the Philippines), but the World Health Organization (WHO) says we need more," he said.

Representatives of some British firms such as healthcare technology solutions provider GE Healthcare, structural, civil and geotechnical solutions provider Tony Gee & Partners, as well as Arup, which offers design, engineering and consultancy services, said they are interested in PPP projects and are looking at how they can participate in these.

Haydarov also said that even as the ADB has already extended technical assistance to the Philippine government for the PPP program, it is still "more than willing to offer assistance" for the undertaking.

"The pipeline has developed. There is much more confirmed or ready to go pipeline. That all catalyses activity," he said.

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