500,000 PH voters abroad deactivated — DFA
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Thu, 05 Dec 2019 11:59:38 +0000
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has deactivated 578,185 overseas voters for failing to participate in the 2016 and 2019 national and local elections.
The Department of Foreign Affairs-Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA-OVS) revealed this on Thursday as it urged the concerned individuals to re-register.
“In this regard, the deactivated voters are urged to re-register in order for them to be able participate in the 2022 presidential elections,” the DFA said in a statement.
The DFA said that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as immigrants, seafarers, and students who were about to leave for abroad, and who were not yet registered overseas voters, may enlist from Dec. 16, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2021.
The OFWs may re-register at any Philippine embassy, Consulate General, Mission, or Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) and overseas voter registration centers designated by Comelec.
“All Filipino citizens who expect to be abroad from April 9, 2022 to May 9, 2022 during the overseas voting period for the 2022 presidential elections, and are at least 18 years old on May 9, 2022 and not otherwise disqualified by law, may register as an overseas voter at the abovementioned locations,” the DFA said.
There is a total of 1,822,173 Filipinos abroad registered in the overseas absentee voting (OAV). Former Makati representative now Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. authored the OAV law.
During the May 2019 midterm elections, the Comelec suspended voting in Syria, Iraq, and Libya to ensure the safety of Filipino voters there amid the political unrest in these Middle East countries.
Automated elections were held in 41 Philippine posts abroad – Agana, Calgary, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, Ottawa, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, Brunei Darussalam, Canberra, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Macau, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Athens, London, Madrid, Milan, Rome, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Doha, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Al-Khobar, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv.
Postal voting was allowed in 29 posts. These are Brasilia, Buenos Aires, Mexico, Santiago, Bangkok, Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hanoi, Islamabad, Port Moresby, Yangon, Ankara, Berlin, Berne, Brussels, Budapest, Geneva, Lisbon, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Prague, The Hague, Vienna, Warsaw, Abuja, Cairo and Pretoria.
Personal voting was allowed in 13 other posts in Dhaka, Dili, Jakarta, Manado, New Delhi, Phnom Penh, Shanghai, Vientiane, Xiamen, Vatican, Amman, Nairobi, and Tehran. BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO