By Raynald C Rivera
DOHA: Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) for the Philippine national elections witnessed the highest turnout in its entire history in Qatar at 35.02 percent or 15,695 total votes cast as OAV concluded yesterday.
“I’m very pleased about the turnout of the 2016 national elections here. We had 15,695 voters who cast their votes at the Philippine embassy from April 9 until today. It’s a significant number because it represents 35.02 percent turnout which is the second highest in the GCC after Bahrain and the third highest in the Mena region after Bahrain and Israel and I think it is the highest turnout ever achieved in the history of overseas voting in Qatar,” Philippine Ambassador Wilfredo C Santos said yesterday.
This year’s OAV in Qatar, the Ambassador said, is a very good development as not only did the embassy meet its target turnout but also it is higher than the worldwide average. For this, thanked all his compatriots who took part in “this important political exercise to chart the future of our country.” This year’s elections have been characterized by constant mudslinging between the aspirants in the highly coveted positions as well as daily word war between their passionate supporters through social media. “ The time for politicking is over. The voice of the people has been heard and once the results are officially announced, I think all of us will have to unite behind the new leader,” he said, adding he expects the new leaders to be true to their promises to improve the welfare of the people and the economic condition of the country.
Asked about accomplishments of the outgoing Aquino administration, he mentioned higher rate of economic growth, its fight against corruption and beefing up military capability, among others.
“As a whole the economy under the president was very stable. We were able to become a destination for investment and trade, and tourism picked up which is something I hope can be continued since everything is looking bright for the Philippines in terms of economic performance,” he added.
He spoke of the possibility of the new president of the Philippines to visit Qatar. “Bilaterally, it’s our turn to come here and in preparation for the possible visit of the President, we are already talking to the Qatar government on the signing of several agreements on health, education, culture, visa waiver and on mutual protection of investment which is very important,” he said.
The ambassador revealed plans to work with the Qatari government to convene a joint commission on bilateral cooperation, the body that will work to make the signing of the pacts possible. “At the same time once we convene this joint cooperation on bilateral cooperation we will have a framework by which we can regularly meet with the Qatari side to discuss important issues of concern between our two countries.”
The Peninsula
