Philippine elections: will overseas Filipinos sway the vote?

With midterm elections just weeks away in the Philippines, analysts say overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) could help decide the fate of candidates locked in tight races.

The OFW vote heavily backed former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2016 and it could once again prove pivotal – if logistical hurdles and low voter turnout do not undermine its full potential.

Just 58,000 of the 2 million eligible OFWs have registered on a newly introduced online voting system launched by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the polls, which are scheduled on May 12.

In the 2022 presidential election, about 1.5 million overseas voters registered, with a turnout rate of 23 per cent.

However, Comelec anticipates a surge in voter enrolments after Easter.

“The number of our enrollees may go up after Holy Week, as this is a common situation for us,” Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco told local media on April 15.