ABU DHABI // Filipinos whose names were removed from electoral rolls after failing to vote in the two most recent elections will not lose their right to do so in this year's ballot.
Of the 98,206 Filipino voters who were in the UAE at the time of elections in 2007 and 2010, 8,298 failed to cast a ballot at the embassy in Abu Dhabi, and 12,421 at the Dubai consulate.
Under Philippine law, failure to vote in two consecutive elections is grounds for removal from the list of voters. But the country's Commission on Elections (Comelec) last month came up with a resolution that allows delisted overseas voters to take part in this year's midterm elections.
"Their mere presence is enough," said Lucenito Tagle, the chairman of Comelec's committee on overseas absentee voting, at the start of a three-day briefing on automated voting in Abu Dhabi yesterday.
"They will be allowed to vote until the end of the overseas absentee voting period."
But failure to vote this time means they will remain off the active list of voters and be unable to vote in future unless they re-register as overseas absentee voters.
Automated voting for expatriates will take place from Saturday until May 13, the day of the election in the Philippines, at the embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulate in Dubai.
There are 975,263 Filipino absentee voters worldwide, 388,593 of them in the Middle East.
"Filipinos living overseas are an important part of our political process," said Jose Brillantes, the under secretary of Manila's foreign affairs department, who heads the overseas absentee voting secretariat. "They will make a big difference in the elections since there are now close to one million voters abroad."
There will be five precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in Abu Dhabi and eight in Dubai.
"Considering that one PCOS machine can be used by 10,000 voters and that the voting period will last for one month, the number is sufficient for the use of the 29,943 voters in Abu Dhabi and the 68,263 voters in Dubai," Mr Tagle said.
"Their vote can bring them home," said Grace Padaca, a Comelec official. "If we can put good people in government, good governance will mean more opportunities for Filipinos so they do not have to go outside the country."
rruiz@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
How to help or find other cats to adopt
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THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
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- 600-seat auditorium
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5