DFA-OVS and COMELEC Conclude Successful 2022 Global Foreign Service Voting Registration Training
MANILA, 20 December 2022 – The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Overseas Voting Secretariat (OVS) and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) successfully concluded the onsite 2022 Regional Trainings on the Continuing Registration for Overseas Voting for Purposes of the 2025 National and Local Elections as part of the preparations for the resumption of overseas voter registration. The regional trainings were held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 24 to 28 October 2022, in Barcelona, Spain from 07 to 11 November 2022, in Seoul, South Korea from 21 to 25 November 2022, and in Toronto, Canada from 28 November to 02 December 2022.
The Department’s training teams were led by DFA Undersecretary for Civilian Security and Consular Affairs (UCSCA) Jesus S. Domingo, OVS Chairperson Atty. Zoilo A. Velasco, OVS Vice Chairperson Deputy UCSCA Alan L. Deniega and OVS staff. The COMELEC contingent was led by its Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia and represented by Commissioners Marlon S. Casquejo, Aimee P. Ferolino, Rey E. Bulay and Socorro B. Inting in the various regional training sessions.
The trainings were conducted to prepare Foreign Service personnel for the new cycle of overseas voter registration, which commenced on 09 December 2022 and will run for almost two years until 30 September 2024. With the aim of increasing the number of registered overseas voters, the COMELEC introduced innovations to ensure that more overseas Filipinos register and vote, such as allowing registration in any Foreign Service Post (“register anywhere”) and enabling the Virtual Frontline Service for applicants with existing voter records and complete biometric data. Undersecretary Domingo had called on training participants to place maximum effort in registering overseas voters, reminding all of the Philippines’ proud heritage as Asia’s first democracy, and of the need to amplify the voice and empowerment of the Filipino Diaspora - our “Bagong Bayani.” END
