Abu Dhabi: With just two months left before the deadline for the Overseas Absentee Voter Registration (OAVR) in October, the Philippine mission in the capital has beefed up its efforts to cater to new registrants by holding mobile registrations.

The OAVR programnme allows Filipinos living abroad to register to vote in absentia for the May 2013 local elections.

Friday’s stop was at the Saadiyat Island to register around 80 Filipinos organised by Migrante-UAE Abu Dhabi Chapter, a migrant right’s group.

“We do recognise and appreciate the embassy’s positive step to reach out to the Filipino community for the absentee voting next year,” Ryan Kim Pescadera, Migrante-UAE Secretary General, told Gulf News.

Pescadera said the mobile registration served as a way to educate Filipinos on their civic duties.

“This is the civic role of every Filipino citizen especially for those who are abroad. The enthusiasm our compatriots displayed towards the registration process is a good step in our democratic process,” he said.

The group said they would partner with Philippine missions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai to organise more mobile registrations in the coming weeks. Their next stop is in Musafa on September 7. Those who cannot make it on that day have another option.

“We are currently accepting appointments from our compatriots who wish to register but cannot do so on a working day. So what they can do is to schedule an appointment with us after work,” Vice Consul Norman Padalhin, in charge of the OAVR in Abu Dhabi, told Gulf News.

“If they are a group of friends or office mates, as long as they can gather a minimum of 20 people, we’ll take the OAVR where they are,” Padalhin added.

Over 3,000 Filipinos have registered in Abu Dhabi since the process began in November last year to add to the 17,125 existing registered voters. Registration will run until October 31.

Padalhin said that since Filipinos frequent the St Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi every Friday, they have decided to hold mobile registrations there on Fridays from 11am to 2pm and on Sundays from 5pm to 9pm. Only Abu Dhabi residents will be accepted, however, as residents of Dubai and the northern emirates fall under a different voting precinct.

For those who wish to register, please bring a valid passport with its photocopy, seaman’s book for sea-based Filipino workers and the voter registration form downloadable from Commission on Elections website.