Vancouver in list of top cities with most registered Pinoy voters

The city of Vancouver made it to the list of top 10 Philippine foreign posts with the most number of overseas Filipinos who have registered to vote in the May 2016 presidential elections.
The registration process only takes about two minutes to complete for overseas Filipinos who have applied in the overseas voting program, a short and simple process for a chance to have a lasting say in choosing the Philippines' next president.
The Philippine Consulate in Vancouver has repeated this procedure for more than 17,000 applicants to the overseas voting, landing it in the top spot with the other Philippine posts in Canada with the highest post in terms of voter registration.
"The 17,000 is across our jurisdiction so that covers British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and north-west territories. We expect the numbers to increase further in the coming weeks," said Consul General Neil Ferrer.
Ambassador Petronilla Garcia added, "We have been actively inviting Filipinos in Canada to register and vote, to take part in this important political process and they responded."
As the October 31, 2015 deadline looms for the overseas voting registration, the consulate has further stepped up its campaign by going to fiestas and churches and embarking on the Akyat Barko or ship visit initiative to convince Filipino seafarers, whose ships regularly dock in Vancouver, to register.
"During their breaks, we are there so we can provide a registration for seafarers. Ang kailangan lang either a copy of their passport or the seaman's book or yung listing ng crew members provided by the ship itself," said Ferrer.
Meanwhile a panel handling election cases is being urged to immediately rule on a disqualification petition lodged against Senator Grace Poe so that voters’ doubts over her citizenship would be settled.
Senate President Franklin Drilon said the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) must quickly act on the case so that voters will not be confused.
Poe, 45, is among the leading contenders in the presidential race. However, her legitimacy as a candidate is being questioned by a former government functionary, Lito David, who claimed in a petition he filed against the Senator that she had not met the necessary number of years as a resident in the Philippines to be voted as in the 2013 elections.
Poe lived for several years in the United States where she was a naturalised citizen.
Aside from that, David also said Poe has no solid claim on being a natural born Filipino, because she is a “foundling” whose parentage is questionable.
Poe is an adopted daughter of the late screen icon and presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr and surviving film actress Susan Roces.