Dubai Officials overseeing absentee voting at the Philippine Embassy in the nation's capital are leaving no stone unturned in enjoining Filipino electors to cast their ballots in the last four days of the month-long balloting.
Adelio Antonio Cruz, first secretary of the Embassy, on Wednesday presided over a meeting of diplomatic staff, most of whom sit as election inspectors, where they reviewed and fine-tuned procedures as they anticipate an influx of voters on the final weekend leading to the national elections on Monday.
"Filipinos generally have a knack of doing things on ‘photo-finish' and we're preparing for that," he told Gulf News.
Benito Valeriano, the consul-general in Dubai, said however, said they were always ready to do their mandate.
"Every day [since balloting started on April 10] is special preparation," he said in a separate interview.
Both officials said they were hoping for a big turnout. As of Wednesday, over 2,000 of the 17,041 registered voters in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region in the UAE had cast their ballots, according to Cruz while Valeriano refused to give numbers.
Final stretch
Last week, a source said about 1,200 of the 30,642 registered voters in Dubai and the northern emirates had voted.
"I will be happy if we hit 20 per cent. We will be above the norm if we reach that figure," Cruz said.
On the final stretch of absentee voting, Cruz has been calling on leaders of the 45 organisations in the Filipino community in Abu Dhabi to ask them to encourage electors within their respective groups to exercise their right to suffrage. The diplomat is also set to speak in today's community service at St Joseph's Church in Abu Dhabi.
The Embassy will be sending out e-mails and text messages and will post announcements on Facebook and other social networking sites.
"This is for our country's future. Please find time to go out and vote," Cruz said.
Voting centres: Open over weekend
Voting centres at the Embassy and the Consulate in Al Ghusais will be open throughout the weekend up to election day on Monday.
Doors open at 8.30am and will close at 4.30pm except on Monday when balloting ends at 2pm in accordance with the 6pm Philippine time cut-off.
Canvassing of votes will immediately follow, which officials estimate will last until the early hours of Tuesday morning. Overseas absentee voters are electing a president, vice-president, 12 senators and a party-list representative.
Adelio Cruz, the Embassy's first secretary, will personally present the official UAE results to the National Board of Canvassers in Manila.
