97K Filipinos abroad have registered as new OAVs–DFA

MANILA, Philippines–Nearly 97,000 Filipinos worldwide have registered during the past six and a half months as new overseas absentee voters, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

In a report posted on its website, the DFA on Monday said the country’s 90-plus embassies and consulates abroad accounted for the registration of 62,312 new OAVs.

Philippine nationals based in Los Angeles, California, topped the list of OAV registrants with 5,677, followed by those in Kuwait, 4,106; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 3,669; Milan, Italy, 3,436; Tel Aviv, Israel, 3,296; San Francisco, California, 3,257; Singapore, 2,906; Hong Kong, 2,861; Rome, Italy, 2,718; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 2,379.

Rounding out the top 20 places were London, United Kingdom, 2,355; Vancouver, Canada, 1,965; Toronto, Canada, 1,824; Manama, Bahrain, 1,630; New York City, 1,328; Washington, D.C., 1,290; Macau, 1,215; Chicago, Illinois, 1,150; Honolulu, Hawaii, 1,142; and Beirut, Lebanon, 1,140.

By region, the Americas topped the list of OAV registrants with 19,807, followed by the Middle East and Africa, 18,824; Europe, 12,868; and Asia and the Pacific, 10,813.

Government registration centers at Terminals 1 and 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport handled a total of 13,448 and 5,077 OAVs, respectively, while the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Commission on Filipinos Overseas accounted for 9,312 and 6,819 registrants.

The 12-month OAV registration, which started on Oct. 31, 2011, runs until Oct. 31 this year.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has directed the DFA’s foreign posts to intensify further their respective OAV registration programs.

Raul Hernandez, the DFA spokesperson, earlier said Philippine diplomatic posts abroad “continue to exert all possible efforts to increase the number of OAV registrants and voters for the 2013 national elections.”

He disclosed that “our foreign service posts have touched base with Filipino communities, civil society groups, as well as church and other Filipino groups.”

The same posts “also launched multimedia campaigns, using various social networking sites, among others,” Hernandez added.