Filipinos living and working abroad were told not to wait for the last minute before casting their votes.
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Brigido Dulay reminded Filipinos working and based abroad to be mindful of the deadline of the overseas absentee voting (OAV) that will end on Monday, May 9.
"To our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) & OFs (overseas Filipinos) voting abroad via postal or personal voting, please be mindful of the voting deadline at your PH Embassy or Consulate on May 9th," Dulay said on Twitter late Saturday, May 7.
"All our Posts have their own voting hours in sync with PH on the last day of voting. Don’t wait till the last minute!" he added.
To our OFWs & OFs voting abroad via postal or personal voting, please be mindful of the voting deadline at your PH Embassy or Consulate on May 9th. All our Posts have their own voting hours in sync with PH on the last day of voting. Don’t wait till the last minute! pic.twitter.com/gSvHgTkViw
— Dodo Dulay (@dododulay) May 7, 2022
With only a day before the OAV ends, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. ordered Dulay to look into the circulating claims on social media that vote-counting machines in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are not working.
"(Undersecretary Dulay) you're there physically; check on this; this is a shame—IF TRUE—but there are many liars on all sides of social media. It is May. People die in the heat here, what more there where we celebrate June 12 in February or die from heatstroke on Independence Day," Locsin said.
According to a post on Twitter, which was retweeted by Locsin, all 10 vote-counting machines in a post in UAE "are not being used." It added that it resulted in a long queue of Filipinos and "many have passed out since yesterday due to the heat."
@dododulay You're there physically; check on this; this is a shame—IF TRUE—but there are many liars on all sides of social media. It is May. People die in the heat here, what more there where we celebrate June 12 in February or die from heatstroke on Independence Day. https://t.co/8yQkFmxm5x
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) May 8, 2022
Overseas absentee voting started on April 10. It runs for a month until May 9.