Philippine expats’ absentee voting registration goes on

Mariecar Jara-Puyod, Senior Reporter

Overseas Filipinos including naturalised Filipino citizens still have the chance to exercise their right to and privilege of suffrage at Manila’s May 9 (Monday) 2022 presidential/national elections. Overseas absentee voting registration (OAVR) is ongoing until Sept.30 (Thursday) 2021 in all the 93 Philippine diplomatic and consular missions worldwide.

Filipinos in Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah are advised to email over [email protected] in order to get an appointment at the Philippine Consulate General in Al Qusais, Dubai.

The appointment system is in connection with the mandatory health and safety guidelines against the Novel Coronavirus. Those with confirmed schedules for passport renewals at the consulate (not at the Philippine Passport Centre in Wafi Mall, Dubai) and have yet to register or want to register may do so on the same day. Physical registration is required for the biometrics. Applicants must present their valid Philippine passport or any valid identification card.

Those who cast their vote at the 2016 presidential/national and 2019 legislative/mid-term elections need not register.

Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes gave an update on the OAVR procedures as Gulf Today had enquiries. Three were from Sharjah namely siblings Winnie Jane and Wilson Orines, and Christian Lumbera.

UAE residents for between one and five years, the three young urban professionals were unable to register and participate at the 2016 presidential/national and 2019 legislative/mid-term elections. They expressed their desire to participate this 2022 for they know they are duty-bound as Filipino citizens. They want their voice and their choice known for the successors of President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo, bound to a six-year term limit by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

On Wednesday, Cortes said: “Suffrage is a right all Filipino nationals enjoy and thus I encourage everyone to exercise their right to choose the leaders that they think will be able to lead our country and our people pass a crippling pandemic that has grappled the whole world the past year-and-a half.”

“Choosing our leaders and representatives to enact policies and create laws and legislation for the benefit of the Filipino society is an endeavour each Filipino must take to heart. Our democracy thrives and will thrive even further if all our nationals fulfil the obligation to play a meaningful role in our future through the exercise of voting,” Cortes also said.