100K registrants in four months boost hopes for 2M migrant voters in 2016

Overseas registrants increased by 50 percent for the month of August from July, the Overseas Voting Secretariat (OVS) said on Tuesday.
 
According to OVS, the  increase was the highest since registration for overseas voters started on May 6.

The secretariat said overseas voter registration increased by more than 50 percent from 24,366 to 37,479 over the July 2014 monthly tally.
 
It said the tally in August set a new milestone for the period "by bringing the four-month total of new overseas voter registrants to 101,351. "

There were 18,670 new registrants in May and 20,836 in June.
 
“At the current pace of registration, we could have an overseas voter stock of over two million for the 2016 presidential elections. Attaining this goal can definitely be a game changer,” said OVS Chairman Rafael E. Seguis.
 
Foreign service posts (FSP) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) processed the most registrants at 20,079, with Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai comprising the top three countries with the most number of registrants among all regions.
 
North and South America followed MENA at 7,242 registrants, Europe at 4,278, and Asia-Pacific with 3,540.
 
MENA attributed its success to the integration of overseas voters registration with the passport renewal process. It accounted for 54 percent of August's total voter's registration.
 
OVS wrote that security concerns in countries such as Libya, Ukraine, and the Gaza strip, and aging equipment hampered the registration process.
 
It wrote that "despite the meager resources" allocated to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), it is closely coordinating with the OVS to address the situation.
 
July saw the first time overseas voters breached the one-million mark in 11 years, prompting Seguis to predict an overseas voter stock of two million for the 2016 presidential elections. 

All Filipino citizens who expect to be abroad from April 9 to May 9, 2016 and are of legal age by May 9 may register as an overseas voter at all FSPs, including registration centers in Manila. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more