MANILA -- The first Overseas Voter Registration Center (OVRC) in the Philippines was opened Thursday morning, in preparation for the 2016 elections.
Overseas Filipino workers (OFW), immigrants, and seafarers who are about to leave for abroad, and who are not yet registered as overseas voters may register at the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Consular Affairs (DFA-OCA).
Registrants who need to renew their passports will also be allowed to access the Passport Division's courtesy lane just by presenting their Overseas Voter Registration stub.
Overseas voter registration, for this election cycle, started last May 6, 2014 and will end on October 31, 2015.
There are also plans to open OVRCs in the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA), Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), and Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA).
The DFA-OVS and the COMELEC-OFOV are also discussing to the possible opening of OVRCs in Passport Satellite Offices in the National Capital Region (NCR) and at Regional Consular Offices in Cebu and Davao.
All Filipino citizens who expect to be abroad during the 30-day (April 9-May 9, 2016) overseas voting period for the 2016 Presidential Elections, at least 18 years old on May 9, 2016, and not otherwise disqualified by law, may register as an overseas voter, at all Philippine Foreign Service Posts including the 3 Manila Economic and Cultural Offices (MECO), Office of Consular Affairs, Macapagal Ave., ASEANA Business Park, and at other COMELEC approved registration centers outside of the FSPs or in the Philippines.
