This week millions of citizens in 27 European Union states will be voting in the European elections, the the largest trans-national elections in history. 

Thousands of candidates are hoping to win one of 736 MEP (Member of the European Parliament) seats in the increasingly important European Parliament, which represents over 500 million people. 

The significance of the European Parliament cannot be overlooked. Some estimate that up to 80% of our laws – covering areas such as employment, immigration, crime, transport, trade, the environment - started life in Europe. 

In Britain, the election issues have been overshadowed by the recent MP’s expenses scandal, which is causing a constitutional crisis and has seen a number of Members of Parliament forced to stand down. 

The sleaze stories are widely expected to cost all three main parties, Labour, Conservative and Lib Dem’s, a large number of seats as people ‘vote with their feet’ for smaller parties, independent candidates or even extremist groups. 

One such independent candidate is Filipino British migrant Gene Alcantara, who is running in the Greater London area, where eight seats are up for grabs. 

Gene Alcantara MEP Candidate for London

Gene is standing for “clean and honest” politics and believes that by running as an independent candidate he can represent his constituents in London, not a political party. 

He is also promising to work to “eradicate waste, fraud and mismanagement within the European Commission and the European Parliament by demanding transparent accountability and independent auditing of its finances”. 

He is one of six independent candidates standing in London the others being: Brendan Patrick, Steven Cheung, Jan Jananayagam, Sohale Rahman and Haroon Saad. 

Independent candidates receive little or no media coverage and do not benefit from Party Political Broadcasts shown on national Television. 

Candidates like Gene have no party machine behind them and very little money for campaigning. He and his small campaign team, including family members such as his Wife Carmila Legarda-Alcantara, have had to do most of the legwork themselves. 

Running independent of massive party funding means “long nights of stuffing envelopes and weekends pounding the streets”, says Gene. 

Campaigning for the European Elections is prohibitively expensive, with the election deposit alone setting you back a whopping £5000. And that’s before you have printed a single leaflet. 

Candidates are entitled a free Royal Mail drop to all 3.5 million registered voters in Greater London. However, the cost of printing and handling millions of leaflets makes it extremely difficult for an independent to benefit from this service. 

Even obtaining a copy of the Electoral Register, which candidates are entitled to receive free of charge, from 33 different boroughs, and in almost as many formats, is a logistical nightmare. 

In the European elections, unlike local and National counterparts, you have to deal with 33 different council boroughs, which takes up a lot of my time, says Gene. 

Despite this, Gene is hopeful that the growing tide of public anger against the traditional party system and “members club” mentality in Parliament will persuade voters to elect fresh new candidates. 

The Son of a migrant worker who came to the UK in his teens, Gene believes in fair treatment for all people, including immigrants, but also thinks Britain’s borders should be robust. 

He also believes that the British people feel they are not being listened to by politicians. 

“Two-thirds of people in Britain apparently do not know much about what goes on in Europe and feel left out and uninformed”, said Gene.

“Vote for me and I will ensure your views are represented in the European Parliament and you are kept updated.” 

There is no doubt that we need honest representation in Europe, so it is important that all British and European Citizens exercise their right to vote next Thursday 4 June. 

For a full list of candidates and parties visit: 

http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/5A43D733-BDFD-4E89-BFF7-E3EA724CD9EB/0/StatementOfPersonsNominated.pdf 

The independent candidates for London in the European Parliament elections 2009 are holding a media briefing on Monday 1 June 2009: 10.30 am at: Camino, 3 Varnisher’s Yard, Regent Quarter, King’s Cross, London, N1 9FD.

Monique Wilson, a member of the original cast of Miss Saigon, and now a lecturer in London, gives her views on Gene Alcantara, MEP candidate for London.  

Gene Alcantara, a British Filipino migrant, is running as an Independent candidate, for in the European Parliamentary elections on 4 June 2009.    

http://genealcantara.com/

Since the British Ambassador to the Philippines, Mr Peter Beckingham, apologised in April to Filipino’s for the visa bottleneck at British Embassy Visa Section in Manila, things have improved for students applying to study in the UK.

Last month Mr Beckingham was the guest of Philippine Ambassador Edgardo Espiritu at the Philippine Embassy in London. He kindly agreed to address the largely Filipino audience and take questions on visa issues.

The explosion in NVQ student applications, prior to the start of Tier 4 (for students) of the Points Based System on 1 April 2009, led to hundreds of Filipino visa applicants being delayed due to restrictions imposed by the UK Border Agency.

British Embassy Manila’s Entry Clearance Manager, Andy Battson, explained that the numbers of visa applications increased massively from 1,300 to 13,000, which, combined with their new ‘Regional Hub’ role, put considerable pressure on resources.

After the formal presentations MEP candidate for London Gene Alcantara interviewed Andy Battson for The Filipino Channel (TFC) for ABS CBN.

The British Embassy has recently overturned a number of NVQ student visa refusals which had been taken to appeal by Bison UK at the AIT in London.

Majestic College reports that Entry Clearance Managers have withdrawn from several appeals and issued visas to NVQ students previously refused entry clearance.

The college also said that the embassy were now issuing far more student visas and refusing very few as they clear the backlog of thousands of pre-Tier 4 VAF applications.

The new Tier 4 rules are expected to improve the visa process, and the resources issue will apparently soon be addressed by the UK Border Agency. See ‘‘Tier 4 for Students’ video.

Gene is standing for London in the European Parliamentary elections on the 4 June and is holding a special fund raising event at FM Pasyalan in Shepherds Bush on Monday 18 May from 7pm onwards – all welcome.http://genealcantara.com

Gene is urging everyone to register and exercise their right to vote – deadline Tuesday 19 May 2009. See: European Parliamentary candidate calls on all to exercise their right to vote

If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:

info@immigrationmatters.co.uk  or visit www.immigrationmatters.co.uk