Involving Filipinos Worldwide

On April 22, Panahon TV received recognition from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs Overseas Voting Secretariat (DFA-OVS) for its helpful contribution in promoting the overseas Filipino’s right to vote.

The show produced instructional videos on overseas voter registration and reactivation in 2015, which were used by Philippine consulates, embassies and missions in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa. These public service announcements helped the COMELEC and DFA-OVS in surpassing the one million mark of Active Overseas Voters (AOV), reaching 1.37 million for this year’s national elections. According to the DFA-OVS, it was the first time in the country’s history that registered overseas voters reached more than a million.

Panahon TV also created a manual that contained election guidelines sent with the voting packet to overseas Filipinos who will vote via post. The program also produced instructional videos educating Filipinos abroad on the different modes of overseas voting.

Dubbed as modern heroes and today’s game changers, active overseas voters began to vote last April 9, a process which would last 30 days as they chose their next President, Vice President, 12 senators and a party list.

As of April 22, 2.3% already finished voting in the Americas, 13.88% in Asia and the Pacific, 8.66% in Europe, and 10.42% in Middle East and Africa, tallying a total of a 9.46% turnout in the 1,376,067 active overseas voters. Ballots submitted to the polling centers on May 9, 2016 later than 5:00 PM in Philippine Standard Time will not be casted.