6 November 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Madrid closed the 2014-2015 overseas voters registration period on October 31 with a bang.
As early as 8:30 a.m., Philippine Embassy personnel were out in the streets of Madrid to distribute flyers and encourage Filipinos to register as overseas voters.
Aside from opening the Embassy’s Consular Section the whole day of Saturday, the Embassy also established mobile registration stations in remittance centers in Madrid and Barcelona to allow Filipinos to avail of the opportunity to register during the last day of the registration period.
Philippine Ambassador to Spain Carlos C. Salinas and Mrs. Isabelita T. Salinas spearheaded the registration campaign by registering at the mobile registration center, along with the overseas Filipino workers. The Ambassador also took the opportunity to encourage Filipinos to exercise their right to vote by first registering as overseas voters.
At exactly five o’clock in the afternoon, Consul General Emmanuel R. Fernandez, who also serves as the Embassy’s Overseas Registration Focal Person, officially declared the overseas registration closed. The Consul General thanked the Filipinos for their participation and expressed hope that they would show the same interest during the forthcoming national elections in 2016.
Ms. Analine Macaraig, an OFW from Oriental Mindoro, was the last registrant. She said that she considers it very important for her to register and vote because she believes that it is her duty to exercise her right of suffrage and be heard. She said that while her work requires her to be out of Madrid all the time, she made sure that she finished early that day to be able to catch the last day of registration.
Two months ahead of the deadline, the Philippine Embassy in Madrid reached the 10,000 new registrants target on August 28 but continued its all-out campaign to encourage new registrants until the last day of registration on October 31. It has registered a total of 11,773 new registrants in 2014-2015, exceeding its target by 1,773. END