Palace urges Filipinos abroad to vote for patriotic, trustworthy leaders

Malacañang on Monday called on overseas Filipino voters to vote for candidates who will be loyal to the Philippines and will not “sell” the country in any way.

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro made the appeal as the month-long voting period for the 2025 midterm elections for registered Filipino overseas voters began on Sunday, April 13.

“Gampanan niyo po ang inyong tungkulin bilang isang Pilipino. Bumoto po kayo nang nararapat. Bumoto po mula sa puso,” Castro said at a Palace briefing.  

(Do your duty as Filipinos. Vote for the rightful candidates. Vote from the heart.)

“‘Wag bumoto nang dahil sa bulong o dahil kayo’y nabayaran, kundi iboto niyo po ang mga taong nararapat, ‘yung maasahan natin, mga lider na hindi ibebenta ang bansa kahit sa anumang paraan at mga lider na makabayan,” she added.

(Don’t vote based on hearsay or because someone paid you. Vote for the right people, the ones we can count on—leaders who will not sell the country in any way and who are patriotic.)

As of early Monday morning, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that registered overseas Filipino voters can now cast their ballots online for the 2025 polls as all the 77 Online Voting and Counting System (OVCS) posts abroad have been “successfully” opened.

There are 16 Philippine diplomatic posts that have also conducted open voting procedures using automated counting machines.

A total of 54,575 overseas voters were enrolled as of 5 a.m. on Monday. There are currently 1.231 million Filipino voters abroad, according to Comelec.

Malacañang welcomed the conduct of the first-ever online voting for overseas Filipinos, hoping that they will exercise their right to vote, despite being out of the country.

“Sana mas maging maayos po ito dahil ito ay mapapabilis ang pamamaraan ng pagboto ng ating mga kababayan,” Castro said.

(We hope that the overseas voting will go well because it is expected to speed up the voting process of our countrymen.) —KG, GMA Integrated News

For more Eleksyon 2025 related content and updates, visit GMA News Online's Eleksyon 2025 microsite.