Extended polling hours for Filipinos to cast vote

Filipino voters casting their votes at the Philippine Consulate, Dubai, last month.

Following concerns about a low turnout at the month-long Filipino overseas voting here, the Philippine mission has decided to extend voting hours from Thursday to Sunday.
Now, the Filipinos can vote until midnight at the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai in the remaining days of the polls to choose the next Philippine president, vice president, 12 senators and party list representative.
The extended polling hours, which starts on Thursday from 8am until midnight, will end on Sunday.
 A special field voting will also be held on May 6 and 7 from 9am until 5pm at Chelsea Hotel in Satwa.
The extension of voting hours was made after consular officials held a consultation with leaders of the Filipino community on Tuesday night, following concerns that only around 28,000 voters or roughly 23 per cent of the 122,185 registered voters in Dubai and the Northern Emirates have participated in the polls to choose the next Philippine president, vice president, 12 senators and party list representative.
The Philippine Consulate in Al Ghusais has been open everyday from 8am until 9pm since the start of the election on April 9.
The final voting day is on Monday (May 9) and voting hours remained unchanged from 5am until 1pm, to coincide with the 5pm (Manila time) closing of polls in the Philippines.
Philippine consul-general Paul Raymund Cortes called on his kababayans (compatriots) to exercise the 'bayanihan' (collective effort) spirit to draw more Filipinos to vote.
Various publicity events were also suggested to drum up support like "changing of Facebook profile pictures, carpooling, cultural presentations, announcements from celebrities.
Caloy Serrano, head of Philippine Remittance at Al Rostamani International Exchange, encouraged carpooling among friends to save on transportation going to the polls.
Paolo Alforte, secretary of United Cebuanos in the UAE, said it is "important to exercise one's right to vote to contribute the betterment of our country. Conversations about the election is always a part of our get-together or even chats on social media."
Meanwhile, Consul Ferdinand Flores reminded voters not to take "selfies" inside the polling precincts.
He added: "those who have registered in Abu Dhabi can also vote in Dubai but here is a verification process so they need to come to the poll early."
angel@khaleejtimes.com