AS MANY as two million new overseas voters are being eyed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to apply when it resumes its voter registration activities on December 1, 2025.
According to Comelec Chairman George Garcia, they want to be able to enlist as many as two million additional voters abroad with the registration period running close to two years.
"Sana mga two million man lang for two years ang maparegister natin na mga kababayan natin," said Garcia.
(Hopefully, we can register at least two million of our fellow citizens within two years.)
This, he said, could result in the Comelec having around three million registered voters come the May 2028 presidential polls.
"We are hoping that we go to the next level sa registration. Sana man lang umabot ng three million mga overseas Filipinos na botante," said Garcia.
He said he believes the help of other government agencies will be able to convince more Filipinos abroad to get registered.
"We should be able to convince them and they should realize that nation building shouldn't be limited to those in the country. Nation building will always be a part of being a Filipino. Therefore, kahit nasaan sila, kailangan mag participate sila sa atin," said Garcia.
The poll chief said the 2028 polls being a presidential election also makes them optimistic of having higher voter interest.
"Ang 2028 is a very crucial year. 2028 is crucial in our political history because we are electing the president and vice president and other positions. Very important po ito," said Garcia.
To note, the overseas voter registration period is set to resume on December 1, 2025 and will run until September 30, 2027.
The last overseas voter registration period ran from December 9, 2022 to September 30, 2024, wherein only around 200,000 enlisted.
During the May 2025 polls, there were an estimated 1.241 million registered overseas voters. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
