5 February 2010 - The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), and the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHILPOST) signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the implementation of overseas postal voting for the upcoming elections.
The MOA renews the arrangements between the three offices on the implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Law for the purposes of the May 10 elections.
Under the agreement, 49 Foreign Service Posts (FSPs) will implement postal voting to cover 138,113 registered voters. Overseas absentee voters will have one month to cast their votes, starting April 1, up to 6 p.m. of May 10 (Philippine time or its equivalent in FSPs).
As in previous elections, PHILPOST is being tapped due to its logistical and administrative expertise on mail matters. This is to ensure that the ballots of overseas absentee voters will be received on time and will not be lost in the process.
The OAV Mailing Center will be set up at the Manila Central Post Office as early as February 2 to serve as control center.
There are 589,830 registered overseas absentee voters for the May 10 elections. Of these, 568,733 are land-based, broken down as follows:
Middle East and Africa - 225,148
Asia Pacific - 215,546
Americas - 66,745
Europe - 61,294
There are also 21,097 sea-based overseas absentee voters.
The top five FSPs with the highest number of registered overseas absentee voters are: Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong (95,355); Philippine Embassy in Riyadh (53,292); Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah (37,083); Philippine Embassy in Singapore (31,851); and Philippine Consulate General in Dubai (30,679). END