Pinoy workers bound abroad may now register in PHL for the 2016 polls

Filipino workers bound abroad for work can now register as overseas voters for the 2016 Presidential elections.

A press statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said the first Overseas Voter Registration Center (OVRC) in the Philippines opened Friday at the DFA’s Office of Consular Affairs at the ASEANA Business Park along Macapagal Avenue.

Voters who register there may also have their passports renewed without waiting in line at the Passport Division’s Courtesy Lane, it added.

All Filipinos abroad during the 30 day overseas voting period (from April 9 to May 9, 2016) may register at all Philippine Foreign Service Posts.

Other OVRCs may soon be opened at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Commission on Filipino Overseas (CFO), and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA).

On the other hand, Passport Satellite Offices in Metro Manila and Regional Consular Offices in Cebu and Davao may also host OVRCs in the future.

The DFA recently registered a “record breaking” number of voters during the first month of the overseas voter registration for the 2016 elections.

Based on records from the DFA’s Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA-OVS), 18,631 new voters were processed by various Philippine posts around the world last May.

This was a 111-percent increase from the 8,819 recorded for the 2013 elections, 64-percent increase from the 11,397 recorded for the 2010 elections, and over 630-percent increase for the 2,543 recorded for the 2007 elections. — Rie Takumi /LBG, GMA News