Filipinos begin casting votes for presidential election

Overseas voting for the upcoming Philippine Presidential Election kicked off Sunday, with several Filipino voters expressing that they wish for a better country under new leadership.

More than 65 million Filipinos have registered to vote in the country and another 1.8 million have done so overseas.

During the last Philippine senate elections held in 2019, around 9,000 voters were registered in Macau. However, a statement from the Philippine Consulate General in Macau indicated that voter turnout was only 39%.

Speaking to the Times, Marivic Aurora, a domestic helper who has been in Macau for six years, is a first-time overseas voter. Back home, she votes in every election because she wants the country to “progress once again” under a new president. 

“We have our right to choose our president,” she told Times, “We want to have a peaceful country like Macau.” 

Aurora said that she is satisfied with life in city, because the “people are peaceful here” and she has a “kind employer.”

However, she also wishes that the Macau government were more inclusive of the Filipino community, who are currently excluded from the welfare system, meaning that medical care is unaffordable for anyone working as a domestic helper.

In April of 2020, the government announced stimulus packages to drive domestic spending. The beneficiaries of the e-voucher scheme extended to all people residing in Macau, including all Macau ID holders, blue card holders, and students with foreign nationalities.

However, the government made a U-turn just a few days after the announcement and excluded non-Macau ID holders from the e-voucher scheme, causing lament among migrant groups. 

A 47-year-old Filipina, who identified herself as Rowena, has been working as a domestic helper in Macau for “half of her life.” According to her, Macau has been her “second home,” adding, “My only wish in Macau is [for] my family [to stick] together,” Rowena, who has four sons, said. 

She added that she goes back to the Philippines to vote in every election and votes for a “better leader.”

Another voter, Marlyn Rovillos, said that she “must stay” in Macau, due to the salary being competitive against other countries, meaning she is able to send money back to her family, even though she has not been able to see them for over two years.

The polling station is at the Harborview Hotel for the first time. Back in the 2016 Presidential Election, only around 5,000 out of nearly 30,000 Filipino workers were registered to vote. This time, there are some 14,600 registered voters. However, turnout is unpredictable due to the large number of Filipinos who returned home since the onset of the pandemic.

In a letter to the public, the Consul General Porforio M. Mayo Jr told the public to vote and not wait for the last day to avoid long queues, noting, “Your vote is important. Discipline and cooperation will lead to victory in our presidential elections held here in Macau.”