More OFWs register for 2010 polls–DFA

MANILA, Philippines — Close to a thousand Filipinos working abroad registered on Thursday in various posts to allow them to vote in the May 2010 presidential election, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

There are now a total of 175,687 newly-registered Overseas Absentee Voters (OAV), up from Thursday’s figure of 174,815, the DFA said.

Those who will want to register have 17 days more before the August 31deadline set by the DFA.

The figure represents only 17.5 percent of the one million new registrants being targetted by the DFA.

Posts in the Asia and the Pacific had the highest number of OAV registrants with 49,804, followed by the Middle East with 33,361, the Americas with 31,808 and Europe with 19,153.

Registration posts manned by Philippine Overseas Employment Agency(POEA) had 18,471 registrants, followed by those at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) with 13,440; Commission on Filipinos Overseas, 4,815; and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration with 4,835. –Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, INQUIRER.net