Filipinos in UAE majorly vote for Duterte's allies; low turnout among expats

Candidates identified with former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte — who is being detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity — have emerged as the frontrunners in the month-long online voting for overseas Filipinos in the UAE.

Registered Filipinos cast their votes for 12 Philippine senators and a party-list representative. Re-electionist senator Bong Go, who served as Duterte's personal aide and special assistant, topped the senatorial race with 27,459 votes, followed by Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa, a retired police officer who was identified with Duterte’s so-called war on drugs, got 26,047 votes.

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Another known Duterte ally, Rodante Marcoleta, came in third with 25,161 votes, followed by Jimmy Bondoc in fourth place with 19,744 votes; Atty. Vic Rodriguez (5th; 18,432 votes); Raul Lambino (6th, 17,555 votes); Jayvee Hinlo (7th, 16,679 votes); actor Phillip Salvador (8th; 13,886 votes); detained pastor Apollo Quiboloy (10th, 12,643 votes; Gringo Honasan (11th; 12,562 votes). Imee Marcos, sister of current President Bongbong Marcos was endorsed by Sara Duterte, and claimed the 12th spot with 10,937 votes.

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In the party-list election, Duterte Youth garnered 10,286 votes or 31.87 per cent of the total votes cast.

Duterte was arrested and brought to The Hague, Netherlands, on March 11 to face the ICC for allegations of crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s anti-narcotics campaign.

In 2016, when Duterte ran for presidency, he secured 83.5 per cent or 51,879 of the total 61,103 votes cast during the overseas absentee voting (OAV) in the UAE.

In 2022, when his daughter, Sara, ran for vice-president in tandem with Marcos, Sara got 79,925 votes (82.56 per cent).

Low voter turnout

Meanwhile, the first online voting for overseas Filipinos — held for one month from April 13 to May 12 — saw a dismal turnout among Filipino expats in the UAE.

According the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec), there are 189,892 registered Filipino voters in the UAE, the highest among Philippine missions in the world.

Despite the voting held online for the first time — eliminating the need to queue at the Philippine missions in Dubai or Abu Dhabi — the total voter turnout was around 20 per cent or only 37,976 out of 189,892 registered Filipino voters in the UAE. Of these, 13,234 were registered in Abu Dhabi, while 24,742 were listed in Dubai.

The voter turnout among Filipinos in the UAE back in 2022 was 33.42 per cent or 97,314 votes cast, up by 2.55 per cent from 30.87 per cent in the 2016 national elections.

Angel Tesorero

angel@khaleejtimes.com

Angel Tesorero is Assistant Editor and designated funny guy in the newsroom, but dead serious about writing on transport, labour migration, and environmental issues. He is a food lover too.