80,000 overseas votes cast - DFA

MANILA, Philippines - Over 80,000 overseas Filipinos have already cast their votes in various Philippine embassies and consulates worldwide, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday.

The DFA Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS) said the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong reported the biggest number of voters at 22,607, followed by the embassies in Riyadh with 6,182, and Singapore, 4,928.

The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah reported 3,947 voters, while the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Al Khobar placed the number of voters as of Friday at 2,942.

In Kuwait, 2,406 Filipinos cast their votes and in Los Angeles there were 2,337.

Abu Dhabi and London reported 1,681 and 1,610 voters, respectively.

DFA-OAVS chairman and Undersecretary Rafael Seguis said they expect a bigger turnout in the coming days. The OAV began on April 10.

The DFA has instructed embassies and consulates “to exhaust all efforts in the interest of encouraging our countrymen abroad to go out and exercise their right to vote their country’s next set of leaders.”

The DFA also urged leaders of Filipino community organizations to encourage their members to take part in the OAV.

“The cooperation, assistance and support of all Filipino community leaders and organizations are a key to ensuring the success of the OAV exercise,” Seguis said.

“It is one’s civic responsibility to cast his ballot during elections,” he said.

Only more than half a million of the 8.1 million Filipinos around the world have registered for the May 10 elections.