Muscat: Filipinos living in the Sultanate of Oman can vote for the Philippine national elections till May 9, the actual date of voting in the country.
According to sources in the Philippines Embassy, there is a facility for the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to cast their votes in advance of the actual date. The voting process for them in the Sultanate of Oman like other countries started on April 10, which will continue till May 9.
In the Sultanate of Oman there are 42,264 registered voters, with 19,584 seafarers and 22,680 land-based workers. Meanwhile, in order to encourage more Filipinos to cast their ballots, the Philippine Embassy in Muscat conducted overseas voting and consular outreach on Sunday (April 17) in Duqm at Crown Plaza and in Salalah on Friday (April 15) at the Muscat International Hotel.
The Middle East is home to the largest number of Filipino overseas voters. Dubai tops the list with 191,799 voters, followed by Riyadh with 151,968 and Abu Dhabi, the third in the list, with 98,408 voters. Nearly half or 786,997 voters are based in the Middle East and Africa. There are 450,282 overseas voters in Asia-Pacific, 306,445 voters in North and Latin America and 153,491 voters in Europe.
According to sources in the Philippines Commission on Elections, almost 68 million of the 110 million Filipinos are qualified to vote for the Philippine national elections on May 9, for presidency, vice presidency, 12 Senate seats, 330 House of Representatives seat, and almost 18,000 local government positions. Filipino citizens working or residing abroad can cast their votes for this upcoming elections.
“Filipino citizens residing or working outside the Philippines who are qualified to vote can cast their ballot by virtue of Overseas Absentee Voting Act, officially known as Republic Act (RA) No. 9189 which was enacted in February 4, 2003. RA 9189 states that all Filipino citizens abroad who are not disqualified by law and at least 18 years old by the time of elections will be entitled to vote. The eligible individuals are required to file their applications personally at the Philippine embassy or consulate nearest their region.
They are also required to be holders of a valid Philippine passport with an accomplished overseas absentee voting (OAV) registration form from the Commission on Elections (Comelec). For sea-based Filipinos, a photocopy of their seaman’s book is required,” said the sources.