By Raynald C Rivera
DOHA: The Philippine embassy yesterday surpassed the 16,000 target for new registrants for the upcoming presidential elections, six days ahead of the deadline for Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) registration.
The embassy registered 122 new voters yesterday, bringing the total number of new registrants to 16,062. It now ranks fifth in the Middle East and 18th worldwide in the number of new voters.
“We are in the top 20 worldwide and that’s a good number. It proves overseas Filipinos here are cognizant of the importance of the next elections and I’m happy about that,” Ambassador Wilfredo C Santos told this daily yesterday.
When Santos formally assumed his post six months ago, the number of new registrants was 6,000. The once ambitious target has turned into a milestone for the embassy and key to it were its efforts in conducting mobile registrations during weekends, according to the envoy.
“We reached out to our compatriots by going to their workplaces and areas where they usually gather as well as opening the embassy during weekends,” said Santos on the key to crossing the mark.
Prior to the start of registration last year, Commission on Elections (Comelec) of the Philippines announced a target of 300,000 new voters in the Middle East, 16,000 of whom are overseas Filipinos in Qatar. The Midterm Elections of 2013 in Qatar registered 2,800 out of 23,000 voters. With over 16,000 new voters, Santos hopes there will be a significant increase in the turnout in the May elections.
“We hope we will have a larger voter turnout because we want the voice of overseas Filipinos to be heard and chart the future of our country by choosing the leader to take the reins of the government,” he said.
The embassy continues the registration drive until Friday. Overseas voters who failed to vote in two previous elections have until December 9 to reactivate their records.
The Peninsula
