OAV registrants near 30,000 as info drive intensifies

Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV
Article posted March 25, 2009 - 06:05 PM

MANILA, Philippines- The number of overseas absentee voters have doubled in the last two weeks as Philippine posts in other countries intensified their campaign to promote the process.

Data sent to GMANews.TV by the office of the Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat show that as of March 24 a total of 29,413 have already registered abroad to vote in the 2010 Philippine elections.

Last March 9, only 15,234 overseas Filipinos signed up since registration began on Feb. 1.

Filipinos in the United States remain the most interested in the 2010 Philippine elections with 6,182 registrants.

China, which includes Hong Kong, was a distant second to the US with 3,096 registrants, followed by Canada (2,022), the United Kingdom (1,681), and Singapore (1,425).

Still a big disappointment is the Middle East, host to more than two million Filipino workers and dependents. In Saudi Arabia, which has the biggest Filipino community after the US, reported only 704 registrants in its two registration centers in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Registration by centers showed Los Angeles (California) on top 3,099, closely followed by Hong Kong with 2,888, Toronto in Canada with 1,712, London with 1,681, Singapore with 1,425, New York with 1,180, Washington with 824, Brunei with 627, and Tokyo with 626.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis, head of the DFA’s Special and Ocean Concerns, earlier said the figures were expected to improve as the government heightened its campaign for overseas voting.

"These figures will increase tremendously as the OAV registration activities in all Philippine Foreign Service Posts intensify in the coming days, weeks, and months," he said.

Although the numbers seem to suggest an improved enthusiasm among Filipino overseas voters, the government has in fact failed to reach its target for the month.

With the government’s OAV registrant target pegged at one million by 2010, at least 166,666 overseas Filipinos must register every month until the entire process ends on Aug. 31.