PHL Embassy in Dubai polling stations to be open 29 hours straight

Polling stations at the Philippine Embassy and Consulate in Dubai will be open 29 hours straight to accommodate more Filipino voters in the area.
Filipinos in Dubai can still to head to voting precincts until 1 p.m on Monday (PHL time), after these have continued to be open since 8 a.m. on Sunday, Gulfnews.com reported.
As of 7:55 p.m on May 07 (PHL time), the Philippine Consulate in Dubai has already tallied more than 35,000 ballots cast.
"Nagpapasalamat po ako sa lahat... sa lahat ng bumoto na, 37,000 siguro tayo ngayon pero 122,000 plus plus and boboto so mayroong mga 85,000 pa, darating sila mamaya," Philippine Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said.
"Hanggang ala-una pa ho tayo ng hapon bukas, hindi ho kami matutulog, hindi ko kami magsasari, para lang lahat ng mga gustong bumoto ma-accommodate natin dito... Gusto nating mas maraming tinig ng taga-Dubai and marinig ng Pilipinas," he added.
The month-long Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) started on April 9, with a total of 1,376,067 registered Filipino voters under this. For the OAV,voters can pick candidates for national positions: president, vice-president, senators, and party-list.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is hoping for an 80-percent OAV voter turnout this year. 
This is a far cry from the 16 percent in the 2013 midterm elections where 118,823 of the 737,759 voters were able to vote, and the 26 percent in the 2010 presidential election where 153,323 of around 600,000 voters took part.
To cap off the OAV in Dubai, the Philippine consulate-general has also set a concert and prayer vigil for a "clean and peaceful" election on Sunday night, the eve of the election day here in the Philippines.
"The concert will feature songs and dances from our community in Dubai and the northern emirates in calling for our country and our people to pray for a peaceful and meaningful election and the subsequent healing of all the wounds and mudslinging that has characterised the last couple of months," Consul-General Paul Raymund Cortes said in a report by Gulf News. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more