Seven Filipino overseas voters who were not registered at the Philippine Embassy in Moscow were able to vote at the embassy on April 26 following a new Comelec rule allowing this set-up, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.
“The first to avail of this new rule in Moscow was Imelda Ferrer. She is a registered voter at the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong but recently moved to Moscow for employment reasons,” the DFA said.
“The new Comelec rule provides that all registered overseas voters with active registration status may vote at the Foreign Service Post [FSP] near their current residence or work,” the DFA said.
The DFA said that six other voters registered in Hong Kong and one voter registered in Singapore came to the Embassy in Moscow to vote,”
Ferrer expressed her gratitude to the DFA for the opportunity to exercise her right to vote, saying “thank you for this opportunity, even though we registered in Hong Kong we were given a chance to vote here in Moscow . . . otherwise my vote as an OFW would not be counted. Thank you very, very much for this opportunity for us to vote.”
Berginia Antiquin, who is also a registered voter at the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong and who voted right after Ferrer, also expressed her appreciation, adding “I am thankful that I was able to come here to vote. I thought I would not have the chance to vote here.
“To ensure the smooth implementation of this new rule, the Comelec had set up verification hotlines between Philippine FSPs and the Office for Overseas Voting.”