Philippine Embassy in Kuwait
20 January 2020
Overseas Filipinos in Kuwait avail themselves of the overseas voter registration for the 2022 National Elections at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. (Kuwait PE photo)
20 January 2020 – One month after the worldwide launch of the overseas voter registration for the May 2022 Presidential Elections, the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait registered a total of 1,355 overseas voters from 16 December 2019 to 16 January 2020.
In a statement, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. and Consul General Mohd. Noordin Pendosina N. Lomondot commended the Embassy’s first 1,355 registrants during the overseas voter registration, which will run for almost two years, and encouraged more Filipinos in Kuwait “to participate in this important political exercise, which fulfills one’s civic duty to our country.”
“The Embassy welcomes all applications for registration and certification to participate in the next national elections in 2022. We invite every Filipino in Kuwait to bring their passports. Our officers and staff are ready to serve,” Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot said.
Chargé d’Affaires Lomondot added, “If you have failed to vote in two consecutive elections, by law, your voter record will be deactivated by the Commission on Elections or COMELEC. Please visit the Embassy to get your voter records reactivated.”
Meanwhile, in a video message to the Filipino community in Kuwait, COMELEC Commissioner Ma. Rowena V. Guanzon said, “Sana ay lahat tayo sa Kuwait ay maka-rehistro at ma-invite naman ninyo ang inyong mga kapamilya at mga kasamahan na magrehistro rin, kasi napakaimportante para sa ating demokrasya na tayo ay makaboto sa susunod na national elections.”
Out of the 1,355 new overseas voters in Kuwait, 1,115 are female registrants while only 240 are male registrants. According to Vice Consul and Resident Election Registration Board Chairman Charleson C. Hermosura, women empowerment is evident at the early stage of the overseas voter registration, as they go to “great lengths to empower themselves politically, in the same way that women provide economic empowerment through their remittances to their families in the Philippines.”
“Many OFWs, especially women, are clearly taking advantage of their chance to register in order to choose who will manage their invaluable economic contributions back home. It also allows them to choose who they think will best build and lead our country in 2022 and in the years to come,” Third Secretary and Vice Consul Hermosura said.
Apart from the more than 1,300 new overseas voters, 307 more Filipinos in Kuwait also availed themselves of other overseas voting services, such as recapturing of biometrics, transfer of voter registration records, application for reinstatement in the national registry of overseas voters, application for correction of wrong entries/misspelled names/change of name in the National Registry of Overseas Voters, withdrawal of overseas voter application for registration/certification, application for reactivation of voter registration records, and application for change of address in Kuwait.
In preparation for the new round of overseas voter registration, the Embassy sent a delegation to Prague in the Czech Republic for a three-day intensive training in November 22019 for Philippine Embassies and Consulates in the Middle East and Africa, conducted by the COMELEC and the Overseas Voting Secretariat of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Overseas voter registration is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Sundays to Thursdays, at the First Floor of the Embassy. In order to register as an overseas voter, applicants are reminded to bring their valid Philippine passport. END
(SEE ALSO: Notice of Registration and Election to All Filipino Citizens, 2022 National Elections)
“Women empowerment” within the Filipino community in Kuwait, as Overseas Filipinas register as voters for the 2022 National Elections at the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait. (Kuwait PE photo)