The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confidently said in a statement issued at around 4:30 pm Saturday that overseas absentee voting “commenced smoothly in the 93 Philippine embassies and consulates-general around the world”.
589,830 overseas Filipinos are registered for the overseas absentee voting, said the DFA.
Citing a report from the Philippine consulate-general in Hong Kong, the DFA statement said that about 1,000 overseas voters already cast their ballots in the former British colony.
The DFA identified the first voter in Hong Kong as domestic helper Rowena dela Cruz who camped out in the Bayanihan Center since Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the first voter in Singapore was Lydia Deligente, who the DFA said “commented that the automated mode of voting was much easier compared to the manual mode she used during the 2004 elections”.
Hong Kong and Singapore are the only places where automated elections are being held.