Comelec, DFA aim to register additional 1 M OFWs

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) aim to register at least a million more Filipinos overseas for the May 2016 polls, an official said yesterday.

Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca noted that only a fraction of around 12 million Filipinos abroad participate in elections in the country.

“There are around one million Filipinos abroad who are registered voters. Our target for 2016 is to register one million more or to bring it to two million,” she said in a post on her Facebook account.

Padaca said the DFA through Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, who is in charge of overseas voting, set the one million target.

Comelec officials are meeting with the Filipino communities in various Philippine embassies to raise awareness about the resumption of voter’s registration on May 6.