The SUN HK : Filipinos urged to vote as daily tally drops to ‘low 700’

29 April 2022

By Daisy CL Mandap

Voting at Bayanihan Centre is a lot faster now, says Congen Tejada

Consul General Raly Tejada has called on registered Filipino voters in Hong Kong to cast their ballots if they have not done so yet, as the daily tally dropped to a “low 700” on Friday.

“It’s the lowest turnout,” said Congen Tejada, even as he said that after 20 days of voting, the overall number of votes cast so far has reached almost 39,200.

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After hitting peak numbers in the past three Sundays, Congen said the daily tally had gone down to below 1,000 for all days this week: about 700 on Monday, 900 on Tuesday and Wednesday and 800 on Thursday.

“Parang humihina,” he said. (It seems to be losing steam).

He is hopeful the numbers will pick up again this weekend, as well as on May 2 and May 9, which have both been listed as statutory holidays as Labour Day and Buddha’s Birthday both fell on the Sundays preceding.

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He also pointed out that voting has now been made much easier, with all 10 precincts and their corresponding vote-counting machines in full use, apart from a new queuing system implemented since last Sunday that allows people to get into the Bayanihan polling centre a lot faster.

With 93,265 registered to vote, the turnout so far is already at more than 42%, slightly higher than the total number registered for the last mid-term election in 2019.

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Congen hopes to pull the numbers higher to match, if not surpass, the 45% turnout for the last presidential election in 2016, which saw President Rodrigo Duterte taking a huge chunk of the votes.

Current presidential aspirant Ferdinand E. Marcos also won the Hong Kong vote by a wide margin, but lost in the national count to incumbent Vice President Leni G. Robredo, who is also contesting the highest post this year.

The turnout so far has already exceeded that for the 2019 mid-term election (file)

There is enough time to top the previous turnout for a national vote, given that there are 10 more days to go before overseas voting ends on May 9, when all registered voters in the Philippines get to cast their ballots at the same time.

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Overseas voting continues at Bayanihan Centre in Kennedy Town every day, including Sundays and public holidays, from 8am to 5pm, except on the final day when the voting is extended until 7pm.

Those voting overseas get to choose a president, vice president, 12 senators, and one party-list from the ballot that is given them, and which they get to feed directly into a VCM.