Comelec: Fewer OFWs may vote in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Fewer overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) may be able to register and participate in next year’s elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, Comelec Committee of Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) chair, said the impending closure of 10 Philippine embassies could adversely affect the on-going OAV registration.

“It (closure) may hamper our registration efforts, considering the already low turn out of OFW registrants at this time,” Tagle said.

But Tagle said the Comelec understands the reasons why the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) had opted to shut down 10 embassies and consulates abroad.

Tagle said they agree with the DFA that there might be no need for those embassies and consulates since there was no heavy concentration of OFWs there.

“Konti lang naman (It’s just a few) and they can be absorbed by other (Philippine) embassies,” Tagle said.

Starting July, the DFA would already cease diplomatic operations in the consulate general in Koror, Palau; embassy in Caracas, Venezuela; consulate general in Barcelona, Spain; consulate general in Dublin in Ireland; consulate general in Frankfurt, Germany; and embassy in Stockholm, Sweden.

The DFA is also set to stop the operations of embassies and consulates in Havana, Cuba; Saipan, Commonwealth of Northern Marianas Islands; Bucharest, Hungary; and Helsinki, Finland in October.

Tagle added that they would still ask the DFA to require those concerned embassies to double their efforts in persuading OFWs to register for the OAV before they finally shut down their operations.

“We will ask the DFA to, at least, direct their embassies to help in the registration actively. We really want to push the increase of registration,” said Tagle.

So far, only 16,060 OFWs were able to register for the OAV in addition to those 37,453 who participated in the 2010 polls.