10 April 2010 - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said overseas Filipinos started to cast their ballots for the 2010 national elections, and voting commenced smoothly in the 93 Philippine Embassies and Consulates General around the world.
Domestic helper Rowena dela Cruz was the first voter at Hong Kong's Bayanihan Kennedy Town Center when the polling precincts there opened. She camped out in the Center since Friday afternoon.According to the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong, about 1,000 overseas voters already cast their ballots.
Voters in Hong Kong described the automated process as "fun and simple", as most of them took not more than three minutes to cast their votes, feed their ballots in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and get indelible ink on their finger. The voters already have a list of their preferred candidates, which may have speeded up the voting process.In Singapore, voters found the new mode of voting easier, as some of them trooped to the polling precinct as early as 5:00 a.m.
The first voter in Singapore was Lydia Deligente, who commented that the automated mode of voting was much easier compared to the manual mode she used during the 2004 elections.In a report to the DFA, Consul Vicente Vivencio T. Bandillo of the Philippine Embassy in Koror said that first person to cast his vote in the Northern Pacific is Noel M. Reyes, a 36-year old Physics teacher at Palau High School.
He arrived at the Embassy at 6:45 a.m. (5:45 a.m. Manila time), and cast his vote when the Embassy opened the polling area at 7:00 a.m. (8:00 a.m. Manila time). Mr. Reyes wore a white T-shirt which bore the phrase "Ako ang Simula."Some 589,830 overseas Filipinos are registered for the overseas absentee voting.
In a radio interview, DFA Undersecretary and Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat Chairperson Rafael E. Seguis said that more voters are expected to go to the polling precincts tomorrow, Sunday, as most of the overseas Filipinos are on their day-off from work.