Dubai: Filipino expatriates residing in Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah and Ras al Khaimah no longer have an excuse not to participate in next year's polls as the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Dubai has announced plans to reach out to them for voter registration.
Vice-Consul Geronimo Suliguin told Gulf News on Wednesday that his office is now planning to extend the Overseas Absentee Voters' Registration (OAVR) all over the UAE in the coming weekends. The OAVR allows Filipinos abroad to register to vote in absentia for the May 2013 local elections.
"Our experience in the last polls was that Filipino expatriates flooded our office two or three months before the deadline. What we are planning now is to bring the OAVR to the other emirates to encourage Filipino expatriates to register and to maximise the time that we still have," Suliguin said.
Highest numbers in Dubai
Around 800 have registered since the process began in November last year. It will run until October 31. There are more than 600,000 Filipino expatriates in the UAE. In a December report the Commission on Elections in Manila said Dubai had the most number of Filipinos registered among overseas posts worldwide.
Reports last month said the poll body planned incentives to early bird registrants globally due to low turnout. The documents required are a valid passport with its a photocopy, seaman's book for sea-based Filipino workers and the voter registration form available at the consulate and its website.
