Philippine Embassy in UAE reports positive outlook on voter interest, turn out

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – Nearly two weeks since the start of online overseas voting on April 13, 2025, embassy officials in the United Arab Emirates have reported a steady rise in both the voter pre-enrolment and actual participation.

In a statement sent to GMA Integrated News on Wednesday, Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Alfonso Ferdinand Ver, said both voter interest and turnout continue to trend positively.

However, due to prohibition on disclosing data and figures, Ambassador Ver declined to provide specific figures but expressed confidence that the upward trend will continue throughout the 30-day voting period.

“Voter Pre-Enrolment and actual voting have steadily increased after the official period for Online Overseas Voting commenced last 13 April 2025. The figures for both sustain an upward trend throughout, albeit a momentary halt during the peak of the Holy Week season,” Ambassador Ver said.

Overall, there are 189,892 registered voters in the UAE, the highest number of any overseas post in the world comprising 66,001 in Abu Dhabi and 123,891 in Dubai and Northern Emirates, according to the data released earlier by the embassy officials.

When asked to comment if there were technical challenges during the pre-enrolment and online voting, the embassy official assured that all technical concerns raised by the voters were effectively addressed by dedicated personnel and election officers facilitating the polling precinct at the Embassy.

He also said the 24/7 Help Desk/Assistance Team from COMELEC-OFOV played a vital role in resolving queries through various communication channels, including phone calls, emails and WhatsApp.

“While public sentiments over online voting and the overall voting system remained diverse, all technical questions and case-specific concerns were all properly addressed in official channels -- over the counter, phone call, e-mail, or WhatsApp,” the statement read.

“At times, it could be a simple issue of unstable internet connection, voter's unfamiliarity of the general settings of their own devices, use of old mobile devices incapable of handling setting requirements of the voting system, full e-mails unable to receive One-Time Passwords, among others. But all concerns have been sufficiently addressed and explained, offline and online,” the embassy official stressed.

Vice Consul Kevin Mark Gomez, Special Board of Election Inspectors and Third Secretary chairperson, told GMA Integrated News they are confident the online voting will continue in its upward trend.

Gomez said they are open daily to assist OFWs who prefer to pre-enrol and vote at the same time in the Embassy.

“We have intensified our awareness campaigns through our social media platforms,” he added.

Meanwhile, the embassy has also announced on its official Facebook Page that they will conduct the community outreach in the Western Region for consular and Migrant Workers Office (MWO) services on the weekend.

Reiterating its commitment to enhance awareness and participation among OFWs, the embassy and MWO office will bring vital services closer to the Filipino community.

“Increasing awareness and participation of our kababayan on important matters of national significance, alongside bringing Embassy services closer to the Filipino community where there is a large concentration of the Filipino community, is among the Philippine Embassy's key mandates. These are routine services we provide to all our kababayan in the UAE, as the Embassy and the Consulate General in Dubai is doing and have done so in previous years,” the statement said. — BAP, GMA Integrated News

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

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