More mobile services for Filipino voter registration planned in UAE

Dubai: More mobile services for the Filipino Overseas Absentee Voter (OAV) registration will be provided in the next three months to meet the October 31 deadline, a consulate official told Gulf News.

The OAV, which has been in place since 2003, allows Filipinos abroad to register to vote in absentia for the May 2013 local elections.

Following successful mobile registration services in Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Ajman, Vice-Consul Geronimo Suliguin said his team aims to conduct more of these services over the next three months before October 31. The announcement came following a directive issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Manila to further intensify campaigns for OAV registration.

“We will have more mobile services for this purpose. We’re still planning the details at the moment but our team will definitely reach out to other areas in the northern emirates. The only emirate we have not gone to as of yet is Umm Al Quwain,” Suliguin said.

In a report released by DFA earlier this month, Dubai ranks first in the Middle East, and second worldwide, in the list of places with the highest number of OAV registrants. There are over 90 embassies and consulates abroad.

“Right now, we have over 11,900 registrants, which is nearing our 12,000-mark. We aim to add 7,000 in the next three months,” Suliguin said.

“If we were to compare our data from the last OAV registration in 2009, there were 12,000 registrants for a period of one year. But for our case this year, we were able to reach that number in just nine months. This simply means that more and more Filipinos are becoming aware and interested to register and participate in this democratic exercise,” Suliguin said.

The 12-month OAV registration began on October 31, 2011. Filipino expatriates in the UAE who wish to register must bring a copy of their passport. Future schedules of the mobile registration will be announced in the coming weeks.