PE Consul-General Vicente Vicencio T. Bandillo said there were at least 2,673 registered overseas Filipino workers in Palau. However more than 30 were able to cast their votes since Monday.
The overseas voting which started on April 10 will end until May 10- the election day in the Philippines. The PE is open from Monday through Sunday starting at 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. However, on May 10 the voting time will be closed at 7 p.m.
“Right after the election the counting and canvassing of the ballots will be done at the PE office then the results will be personally brought by the Ambassador in Manila.” Bandillo said in an interview.
The first voter of the one-month long overseas voting for Filipinos in North Pacific country east of the Philippines was 36-year-old Noel M. Reyes from Koronadal City in South Cotabato. He is a physics teacher at the Palau High School.
The Filipino voters will have the opportunity to elect ahead of their countrymen at home for the next President, the Vice President, 12 senators and one party-list representative.
Unlike Philippine embassies and consulates in Hong kong and Singapore which usesautomatic counting machines, the embassy in Palau will use manual counting.
In the Philippines the presidential election will be on May 10, 2010. This is the first time that the election will conducted in full automation.
