7,658 Filipino expats vote in Qatar

By Raynald C Rivera            

DOHA: A total of 7,658 overseas Filipino voters in Qatar have cast votes as the month-long overseas absentee voting (OAV) for Philippine national elections concluded its second week yesterday.
“We have completed 14 days of elections in Qatar. So far, a total of 7,658 voters have cast their votes for President, Vice President, Senators, and Party List Representative including 970 voters today. This represents 17.08% of total registered voters in Qatar,” Philippine Ambassador Wilfredo C Santos told The Peninsula yesterday.
Ambassador Santos was satisfied of the results so far and optimistic the Embassy would achieve its target with 17 days to go before the OAV ends.
“ I am thankful and pleased by the turnout of our voters in this election. Given the results so far, I am confident we will achieve more than 35% turnout or more than 15,000 voters by the end of the elections in Qatar on May 9. This is a significant number that surpasses totals in previous elections,” he said.
Previous OAVs saw very low turnout in many countries where it was held including Qatar where only 2,800 out of 23,260 registered Filipino voters in 2013 cast votes in the last elections.
This year’s elections, however, have witnessed a positive trend in Qatar with hundreds queuing to cast their votes every day especially during weekends. “The Embassy’s personnel are fully engaged in assisting our overseas voters to cast their votes. We have increased and almost doubled the capacity of the Social Hall, where our four precincts are placed, to accommodate the growing number of voters. Thus, because of the new set up at the Social Hall, there were no long lines at the Embassy similar to last Sunday and voters did not wait a long time to cast their votes,” added the envoy.
These elections have generated a lot of interest from all segments of Filipinos here in Qatar. On Wednesday the most senior registered Filipino voter in Qatar cast her vote at the Embassy. She is 68-year-old Clarita Aniceto Salvacion, the dependent mother of the Embassy’s Collecting Officer and Attache Clarafel S Bueno.
Ambassador Santos has urged those who have not yet voted to take part in the elections.
“I encourage our kababayans - our registered voters - to exercise their right of suffrage. Please go to the Embassy to cast your votes and make a difference in this election. Your performing your civic duty will help in chartering the future of our country,” he ended.
The embassy is open every day including holidays to receive voters, from 8am to 5pm from Sunday to Thursday and from 9am to 5pm on Friday and Saturday (no lunch break). On May 9-the final day of OAV- voters can cast votes from 7am to 12 noon.

The Peninsula