By Daisy CL Mandap
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| Consul Quintin and CongenTejada say it's all systems go for the 2022 overseas voting in HK |
Speaking at a town hall meeting with Filipino
community leaders on Sunday, Consul General Raly Tejada said it took the
Consulate some time to get the necessary permits from the Chinese government and
various local offices to ensure that the overseas voting in Bayanihan Centre could be conducted as before.
But now that everything has been set, he said, “I now
have the honor to proclaim that it’s all systems go for the 2022 overseas voting
in Hong Kong.”
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Congen Tejada said voting at Bayanihan Centre will be
held continuously from Apr 10 to May 9, including all holidays. Voting will be
held from 8am to 5pm each day, except on the last day when it will continue
until 7pm.
He urged everyone to “vote early and vote on weekdays”
to help avoid overcrowding inside Bayanihan, and ensure that there is no late
surge in voting as what happened in previous elections.
As in the past, the Consulate will ask employers to
allow their helpers to vote on weekdays when only a few people cast their
ballots.
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| Reminder to those who will vote, especially first-timers |
Tejada said he wanted to reaffirm the Consulate’s commitment
to hold the election in a fair, impartial and honest manner” to ensure the
integrity of the 2022 election.
Despite this pledge, domestic worker Bryan Calagui who
heads the BBM HK Global asked during the open forum that an assurance be given
that no cheating would happen in the upcoming vote, claiming that “marami ang nababahala na magkakaroon ng
dayaan.” (a lot of people are concerned that cheating would take place).
To this, Consul Bob Quintin who oversees the overseas
voting process said, “You can simply ask the old timers in Hong Kong. Walang nangyaring dayaan dito.” (No
cheating has taken place here].
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| PRESS FOR DETAILS! |
“In the past, merong
gumagawa ng kwento na walang basehan. Uulitin ko po, hindi kami Comelec
(Commission on Elections] kami po ay Department of Foreign Affairs at iba pang
ahensya ng pamahalaan kaya wala kaming investment to be partial to any
candidate.”
(In the past some people would make up stories that
had no basis. I repeat, we are not the Comelec, we are from the Department of
Foreign Affairs and other government agencies so we are not invested in any
candidate.)
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| Consul Quintin says people made up false stories about cheating |
Surprisingly, the recurring claims about cheating in
the overseas election had come from the supporters of candidates that won
overwhelmingly in Hong Kong, like presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr and
incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte.
As regards voter registration, Consul Quintin said that
despite the challenges posed by the pandemic during the past year, there are
14, 000 more voters this year than during the mid-term election in 2019.
In that election, more than 36,000 Filipinos out of
the 87,441 who registered cast their votes, for a 42% turnout.
“Realistically, if we are able to replicate this
turnout under this condition, masasabi namin na successful na yun,” (we could already claim success) he said.
However, that would be a far cry from the record 46,396 people
who voted out of more than 93,000 registered voters in the last presidential
election in 2016, for a 49% turnout.
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| Tips to voters: Shade the oval fully, take your time and do not overvote |
This time around, poll officials will have to contend with a lot of restrictions, including ensuring that people in a queue observe social distancing, that no more than two individuals gather in public, and that everyone who enters the venue is wearing a mask and undergoes a temperature check.
But he assured media representatives and poll watchers
from the different political groups that they will continue to be given access
during the voting process.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
“Ang mahalaga ay tuloy ang eleksyon. Bukas kami ng 30 araw. Relax lang po, huwag mag-alala. (What's important is that we will have the election. We will open for 30 days. Just relax, don't worry.
"We will do all we can to make
the election as normal and as familiar as possible,” Quintin said.
He also clarified that wearing colors identified with
particular candidates is not prohibited inside Bayanihan, but they should not
bear any marks or logos that identify the political party or candidate that they
support.
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| People should vote alone, and in secret |
Voters must also not use any campaign leaflets to guide
them while voting, but could copy off a list of their chosen candidates written
on unmarked paper.
Quintin was joined by most of the Filcom leaders at the meeting in saying that the only thing that could derail the smooth conduct of the election is when a person who had been to Bayanihan tests positive for Covid-19 subsequently.
He supported a suggestion that would-be voters take a rapid test for the virus before going to Bayanihan, but also advised those who feel unwell to postpone going there until they are sure that they are not infected.
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