MANILA, 10 October — Barely a week after Congressional leaders agreed to set a deadline for the passage of the proposed absentee voting law, the Senate last night passed the measure on second reading with a vote of 14-1.

The House of Representatives failed to approve a counterpart bill last night but Speaker Jose de Venecia said they would do so next week.

Senators said the measure will be formally approved on third reading in the upper chamber on Oct. 21.

Once signed into law, the measure will allow Filipinos living and working overseas to vote for the first time in the 2004 presidential election. Migrants who have renounced their Philippine citizenship would not be covered by the measure.

Only administration Sen. Joker Arroyo voted against the bill, citing flaws that "could make the law an instrument for cheating."

"We achieved a milestone because we were able to deliver on a constitutional promise for overseas Filipinos," said opposition Sen. Edgardo Angara, the bill’s principal author.

Under Senate Bill 2104, all Filipinos abroad who are at least 18 years old on the day of the election would be allowed to vote for the candidates for president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.

They will also be allowed to cast their votes in referendums and plebiscites on national issues.

The new law will benefit the estimated three million overseas Filipino workers, more than two million permanent residents, and 1.6 million undocumented Filipinos in foreign countries.

Overseas Filipinos (OFs) may register by mail or personally with the embassy or consular office in their places of residence.

They may then vote, also by mail or by personally casting their ballot at the nearest Philippine embassy or consular office.

The counting and canvassing of the votes will be done "on-site." An election official assigned to that foreign country is to send the summary of results to Manila for proper tabulation.

Angara said there was much debate on the requirement of "physical presence" for voters who would be allowed to register by mail.

"The argument was that some impostor might be able to register because there is no physical presence," he said.

But Angara explained that the Constitutional Commission, in mandating that Congress should provide for "a system for absentee voting by qualified Filipinos abroad," had deliberated on the issue and "left it to the discretion of the legislature whether to require physical presence or not."

He argued that it would be too burdensome and expensive for the overseas Filipinos to have to return to their hometowns just to register.

The opposition leader also noted that it was "the request of the OFs that the counting and canvassing of the votes be undertaken where they voted."

"This is their safeguard that the returns will not be tampered with," he said. Angara said the Senate and House proponents of the bill have agreed to set aside one billion pesos in the 2004 national budget to facilitate the voting of foreign-based Filipinos in the 2004 elections.

He said the new law would allow even undocumented Filipinos to vote.

Angara said that, in the registration and casting of votes, "the Commission on Elections is not required to inquire into the status of the voter."

"In fact, the undocumented Filipino could even register and vote by mail," he said.

Senator Arroyo, the lone opposition to the bill, said he was more worried about what the administration would be capable of doing with the new voting law. "Malacañnang is ominously quiet. It appoints the ambassadors, it appoints the officials," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda, a co-sponsor of the bill, said the passage of the absentee voting law was "a major breakthrough in efforts by Congress to allow overseas Filipinos to vote from their place of work."

"With eight billion dollars contributed by OFs annually to boost the economy, they have the right to select the leaders of this country," Legarda said. She noted that Filipinos abroad are "keenly aware of the political and economic development of the country so they have a stake in shaping the country’s future."

"They are the missing middle-class vote in Philippine politics that can change the face of our democracy," Legarda said.