‘Promising turnout’ on first day of overseas online voting in UAE

DUBAI — Day one of overseas online voting for Eleksyon 2025 took off with “a promising and good turnout” in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Philippine mission.

In a statement, Ambassador Alfonso Ferdinand Ver said: “I am not allowed to tell you the actual number of those who voted, but it was a promising turnout, and more importantly it helped in accelerating the rate of online enrollment.”

In a separate statement, Consul General Marford M. Angeles, head of Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, said: “Compared to our previous elections, we can say we had a good turnout as more people were able to vote compared to if they came to the Consulate in person and queued under this hot weather.”

Ver said voting in Abu Dhabi “started with some technical issues but we were not deterred and these issues were addressed by the 24/7 tech support” of the Commission of Elections (Comelec).

“At the polling precinct at the embassy, there were many cases who came to get assistance in enrolling online and then went ahead to cast their votes,” the ambassador said.

Online enrollment started on March 20, 2025 and will continue until May 7, 2025. Ver said enrollment figures “are hovering at 5% of our total number of registered voters (total for Abu Dhabi is 66,001 registered voters).”

“I reiterate my call on the community, particularly the registered voters to enroll and cast their votes and show the power and presence of the Overseas Filipinos in strengthening our democratic institutions and make a concrete contribution to shaping and building the future of the Philippines,” he added.

Angeles said the online voting mode “is making good with its promise of an easier and more convenient way to vote for our overseas voters.”

He said enrollment turnout “is about 5% of our total 123,891 registered voters in Dubai and Northern Emirates.

“We are hoping that we get a higher turnout in the coming days, leading to the enrollment deadline of May 7, as only those pre-enrolled can cast their votes until May 12."

Angeles urged the Filipino community “to spread the word so we can continue the upward trend of voter turnout for the next 29 days.”

Concern

Ver also addressed fears that online voting could be tampered with, saying all necessary precautions have been put in place to avert scamming.

He stressed that security measures have been put in place “para wag nating iboto yung mga nagpapatuloy pa rin ng ganitong paraan [so that we will not end up voting for those who continue to cheat].”

Ver said it would be lamentable if cheaters triumph because then “patuloy pa rin ang pandaraya [the cheating will continue].”

That’s why, the ambassador said, “importante na bumoto ka.” (It’s important that you vote.)

Ver said he has been encouraging registered OF voters to vote. “Nangangampanya ako every time. Napakadali na nito [bumoto]…online. Dami naming video. Dami naming information. May mga nagsasabi pa rin na ‘dayaan yan, online ring dayaan 'yan. Madaling dayain yan. Walang …security yan.’ Sabi ko, ‘Kung may gustong gumawa niyan gagawa niyan,” Ver said.

(I have been campaigning about this every time. It's so easy to vote online. There are lots of videos about it, a lot of information. And there are some who will say, 'There will still be cheating online. there's no security online.' I tell them, 'If someone wants to do that they will find a way anyway.)

Ver made these remarks in his introductory message during the Final Lockdown and Sealing (FLS) of the equipment for the Overseas Voting and Counting System (OVCS)—laptops and a printer—held at the Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi on April 12.

This public presentation was among such measures meant to assure registered overseas voters that the overseas electoral exercise is transparent, where the OVCS showed a zero vote in the same way the electoral representatives would show empty ballot boxes before the start of an election back in the day of manual voting.

The OVCS began compiling votes yesterday, April 13, 2025, the start of the elections, and will remain locked until the last day of voting on May 12, 2025.

A similar FLS event was held a day earlier on April 11 at the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Dubai presided over by Angeles, and likewise attended by media as well as Filipino community representatives.

Meantime, Ver and Angeles, in calling on the nearly 190,000 registered overseas Filipino (OFs) voters across the UAE to vote, said the government back home has made it easier for them to do so—no more early morning trips to, and long queues at, the embassy and consulate; instead, in the comfort of their homes.

Ver noted relatively low turnout in the number of those who had pre-enrolled to vote.

Official figures from the Philippine mission here showed that only 6,963 of the 189,892 registered OF voters have pre-enrolled as of April 12, 2025 since the enrollment began on March 20, 2025 – or in the past 24 days.

The diplomat, citing a report by GMA News Online, said only 48,000 of the 1,241,690 registered OF voters had enrolled for them to vote online.

He said despite their campaign for OFs in the UAE to enroll, “mahina pa rin.” (Turnout is still low.)

Other quarters meantime said that another factor for the low enrollment turnout, aside from concerns about hacking, is the “disruption” in the conduct of the electoral exercise where it is now being done online as against the old way.

Angeles however explained that quite the contrary, Filipinos in the UAE have become digitally savvy, partly owing to the UAE government’s push for digitalization in all transactions.

“Bago tayo pumunta sa UAE 'di tayo sanay na isa lang ID, na transactions ay online. Pero nang pumunta tayo dito, nakagawian na natin. Tayong mga Pilipino ay madaling matuto,” he said.

(Before we went to the UAE, we were not used to be having only one identification card, or doing transactions online. But we got used to that here. We, Filipinos, are fast learners.)

The UAE has the biggest number of registered OF voters at 189, 892; followed by the US at 178,033; and Saudi Arabia at 130,711, according to PCG. — BM, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.