Members of the Philippine Embassy’s Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) during the training at the Embassy in Doha.
BY RAYNALD C RIVERA
DOHA: The Philippine embassy is all set to receive 23,260 Filipinos in Qatar who will cast their votes starting Saturday for the Philippine general elections, says an embassy official.
“Some embassy personnel have already been assigned the roles of Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI), Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG) and Special Board of Canvassers (SBOC), for the month-long overseas voting which starts this Saturday,” Vice Consul Melvin C Almonguera told The Peninsula yesterday.
Following the recently concluded Overseas Voting Training held in Abu Dhabi in which Ambassador Crescente R Relacion along with other personnel joined officials of other Philippine Missions, the Embassy conducted training for officials and personnel of the Embassy, Philippine Overseas Labour Office and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration on Tuesday.
The Certified List of Overseas Voters in Qatar sent by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reveals a total of 23, 260 Filipinos in Qatar are eligible to vote for 12 senators and a Party List representative at the midterm elections.
“Before going to the Embassy, it is important for voters to check if their names are in the certified list posted at our website www.philembassy-qatar.org,” he said, adding voters must bring their Qatar ID or passport in casting their votes.
Compared to the last election, there was an increase in the number of voters for this election with over 3,000 new registrants and with the Comelec’s reinstatement of thousands of voters who were not able to vote in the 2007 and 2010 elections.
The Embassy is also awaiting approval from the Comelec to conduct elections in Al Khor, Dukhan and the Catholic Church during Fridays to ensure maximum turnout, said Almonguera.
“The Embassy hopes for a smoother elections and huge turnout of voters,” he said, expressing optimism of the success of this year’s election as the embassy has exhausted all possible means of information dissemination for the elections, from various media entities to Filipino organisations here.
Almonguera called on all the registered voters here to cast their votes this election.
“Even though we are away from the Philippines we have the chance to ensure a better future for our country through our participation in the upcoming elections. Let’s not waste this chance,” he said.
Casting of votes will be held daily at the Embassy from 8.30am to 4.30pm from this Saturday till May 13. Voting will close on the last day at exactly 2pm.
The Peninsula
