Party-list: 200K OFWs deleted from voters’ list

AT least 200,000 overseas absentee voters were delisted from the voters’ list due to alleged lack of information dissemination by Philippine diplomatic posts overseas, the Migrante sectoral party-list said.

John Leonard Monterona, vice chairperson of Migrante, said many of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) were not aware that once a voter failed to vote in two consecutive elections, he or she will be purged from the list.

“Based on our monitoring, many absentee voters abroad have not been properly informed of the requirement to issue a manifestation of intent to remain in the list of overseas absentee voters so they can vote in the May 2013 elections,” Monterona told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an online interview.

Monterona also said many OFWs lost interest in participating in the elections, adding “many of our workers abroad, though they registered in the last two elections, are not that politically involved or active.”

He said many Filipino abroad were just too busy earning a living, but many of them are now more politically conscious and they follow issues that affect their sector in networking sites.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) set December 21 last year as the grace period for overseas Filipino voters to submit manifestation of intent to vote, but only 29 complied.

Absentee voters for the May 2013 polls have lowered to about 700,000 from 915,000 in previous election. (Ronald O. Reyes)