In a decisive win, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate Sara Duterte clinched a runaway victory in the overseas absentee voting (OAV) in the UAE.
The numbers reflected their commanding dominance in the partial and unofficial results of the 2022 Philippine general elections, each garnering a staggering vote of more than 31 million.
Both frontrunners in election surveys from the get-go, each of them received 8 out of 10 votes from Filipinos across the UAE.
The voter turnout in the UAE this year was 33.42% — up by 2.55% from 30.87 in the 2016 national elections.
This translates to 97,314 Filipinos in the UAE who went out to exercise their right to vote at our Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate in Dubai.
The Embassy recorded 36,884 number of votes while the Consulate reported 60,430 number of votes.
Marcos received 76,819 votes, representing 79.24% of the total number. Vice President Leni Robredo followed with 15,260 votes (15.74%). Manila Mayor Isko Moreno ranked third with 2,736 votes (2.82%), followed by Sen. Ping Lacson with 1,409 (1.45%) and Sen. Manny Pacquiao with 471 votes. (0.48%).
In Dubai, Marcos got 47,142 votes or 78.01%, followed by Robredo with 10,097 (16.71%). Moreno (1,668 or 2.76%), Lacson (875 or 1.45%), and Pacquiao (285 or 0.005%) rank third, fourth, and fifth respectively.
OAV in Abu Dhabi paints a similar picture as Marcos received 29,677 votes or 80.46% followed by Robredo with 5,163 (14.00%). Moreno received 1,068 votes (2.89%) followed by Lacson with 534 (1.44%) and Pacquiao (0.005%)
For the vice-presidential votes, Duterte received 79,925 of the votes at 82.56%, followed by Sen. Kiko Pangilinan with 11,680 or 12.06%. Dr. Willie Ong ranks third at 2,765 votes (2.85%) followed by Senate President Tito Sotto with 2,286 (2.36%) and Buhay Partylist representative Lito Atienza with 65 votes (0.06%).
Out of this total, Duterte received 49,026 among Dubai voters accounting for 81.13% of the votes. Pangilinan follows with 7,913 votes or 13.09%. Ong ranked third at 1,639 (2.71%) followed by Sotto (1,448 or 2.40%) and Walden Bello (42 or 0.0007%)
Meanwhile, in Abu Dhabi, Duterte got 30,899 votes or 83.77%; Pangilinan with 3,767 or 10.21%; Ong with 1,126 (3.05%) votes; Sotto and Atienza with 838 (2.27%) and 25 (0.0006%) respectively.
’Bayanihan’ spirit lives on
Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, H.E. Hjayceelyn Quintana, commended the spirit of volunteerism and cooperation among three sectors that made the OAV 2022 in the UAE as smooth, fast, and efficient as possible.
Quintana thanked the voting public for practicing their right to suffrage; the individuals duly deputized by COMELEC including officials from the Philippine Embassy in the UAE, the Philippine Consulate in Dubai, as well as the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in both missions who facilitated and made the overseas election possible, and the huge pool of volunteers and poll watchers from different factions who helped to guide each voter.
“Tunay na makasaysayan itong halalan nitong taong ito dahil nagawa nating tahimik, maayos, banayad, mabilis. At ito na rin ay sa pagtutulungan ng ating mga iba’t ibang sector dito sa UAE. Ang mga mamamayan na bumoto, ang mga deputized ng COMELEC na mag-conduct nitong halalang ito, at silang mga volunteers of the Filipino community dito sa UAE. Kaya’t tunay po akong nagpapasalamat sa kanialang lahat at naidaos natin nang matagumpay ang halalan ng 2022 sa overseas voting,” said Quintana, in an interview with The Filipino Times.
She likewise thanked the UAE for providing assistance to help manage all polling precincts during the 30-day OAV: “I extend my appreciation to the UAE for the assistance extended to the Philippine missions in UAE which served as the polling places for the in-person casting of votes,” said Amb. Quintana.
For his part, Philippine Consul General Renato Duenas highlighted that the turnout this year has increased compared to the past elections and that the consulate managed the process as efficiently as they could.
“It’s quite high we are pleased with the high turnout of registered voters here in Dubai. Everything has been working well and as it should and cooperating with us. We’ve done our best – all that’s within our power to make it as convenient and advanced for them. As soon as they cast their ballot inside the vote-counting machine, they’re thankful that they’re able to vote here in Dubai,” said ConGen Duenas.
Landslide victory
In total, over 55,195,270 Filipinos cast their vote and selected the Philippines’ top government leaders for the next six years. This translates to 81.84 per cent voter turnout for the 2022 elections.
Marcos Jr. leads the quick count by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with 31,103,761 votes – equivalent to 56.35% . He is poised to become the first absolute majority president after People Power Revolution in 1986, which ended the 20-year dictatorship of the regime of his father and namesake, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. Trailing him at second is Robredo who got 14,821,870 or 26.85% of the votes.
Pacquiao is third with 3,629,797 votes (6.58%) followed by Moreno at 1,899,831 (3.42%) and Lacson with 882,235 (1.60%) votes. All three of them have already conceded defeat to Marcos.
