By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

Philippine Ambassador to Palau Ramoncito S. Mariño is encouraging Filipinos to cast their votes during the on-going election period for overseas Filipinos, which started on April 14 and will end on May 14.
Marino said so far only over a 100 has cast their votes in Palau.
"Overseas Filipinos will elect their choices for 12 senators and one Party List organization for the House of Representatives," Mariño said. "In the Philippines, voters will also vote for the mayor and representative for Congress, but that will not apply to overseas Filipinos because they are not in their local residence."
People can cast their votes at the Philippine Embassy on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and on weekends from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Embassy will be open on holidays to accommodate voters.
There are over 2,832 Filipino voters registered in Palau but only less than 5 percent have cast their votes.
"I hope that Filipinos in Palau will exercise their right to vote. In this way, they will participate in determining who our next leaders will be. The Philippine Government has mobilized all 86 Philippine embassies and consulates all over the world so that the 500,000 registered OFW voters and 18,404 registered seafarer voters can cast their ballots," the Ambassador said.
He said in a statement from the embassy that in order to vote, one must have registered as an overseas voter in the Embassy during the voter registration period in 2003 or in September 2005 to October 2006.