4 November 2011. The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs  that Filipino engineer Jerry Peñas and his wife Jacqueline were the first to register as Overseas Absentee Voters on the first day of the overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration period.

Mr. and Mrs. Peñas came to the Consulate together with their three-year-old daughter to apply for an NBI clearance.

Upon learning that the OAV registration period has already started, Mr. Peñas and his wife expressed their desire to register.

Mr. Peñas has been working in Sydney for the past three years as project engineer for the contractor company, Leighton Contractors Pty Limited.



His work has taken him all over the globe and despite being overseas, he said that he has always believed that he should exercise his right to vote and that each vote makes a difference.

As a testament to this belief, Mr. Peñas said that he participated in the first OAV in 2003 while based in Taipei.

The couple had to register again as their names are no longer in the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) list of voters, including OAV.

The Consulate will continue its information campaign to encourage more members of the Filipino community to register as overseas absentee voters. END