MANILA, 30 January 2003 — There is no truth to reports that overseas Filipinos in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not be included in the coverage of the absentee voting bill (AVB), a Philippine senator clarified.
"That is just not true. How can we disenfranchise these people?" Sen. Edgardo Angara told Arab News.
The bill itself is nearing completion and the Senate and the House of Representatives have nearly reconciled the different provisions in their respective versions of the AVB.
With the passage of the bill, over seven million overseas Filipinos will be able to vote for a president, vice president, senators and party-list representative come 2004.
Sources privy to the bicameral discussions said the so-called "Sunset Provision" has totally been deleted and the only remaining thorn is the inclusion of immigrants in the coverage of the AVB.
The same source, however, said that the "styling committee" responsible for the actual wording of the AVB headed by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel was swayed by a phrase in a revision to the Omnibus Election Code.
The phrase says "Any person who transfers residence to another city, municipality or country solely by reason of his occupation; profession; employment in private or public service; educational activities; work in military or naval reservations; service in the army, navy or air force; the constabulary or national police force; or confinement or detention in government institutions in accordance with law, shall be deemed not to have lost his original residence."
Pilot testing of absentee voting is no longer an option as had earlier been reported. But the bicameral conference committee reportedly proposed the testing of the implementation in some countries, one of them the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Philippine government will reportedly put up special registration and polling places and these will not be confined to embassies and consulates. This will make it easier for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) there to vote since voting by mail there has been vetoed.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to reconcile their widely differing versions today. Both houses passed their respective versions of the bill last October and it was noted that a monumental effort was required to reconcile the differences in both bills.
The bill was passed by the Senate on third reading last Oct. 21, with 17 voting for the AVB, one against, and one abstention. The bill there was championed by senators Edgardo Angara and Pimentel.
In the House of Representatives, 132 solons voted for the bill and 9 voted against, with no abstentions. The champion there was Rep. Apolinario Lozada Jr. AVB advocates Ellene Sana and Noel Esquela of the Center for Migrant Advocacies said it was about time since they had been lobbying for the bill’s passage for 15 years.
The Inquirer adds: Lawmakers deliberating on the consolidated version of the AVB remain deadlocked on whether to allow some 2.7 million Filipino immigrants to vote during national elections.
"We’re still working on it," Sen. Aquilino Pimentel told INQ7.net in a telephone interview. The bicameral conference committee, however, reached a resolution allowing Filipino residents in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Canada to vote by mail, Sen. John Osmeña was quoted as saying over GMA Network radio dzBB.
He said the committee believes voting through mail could be effectively implemented in these countries because of their efficient postal systems.
Filipinos in other foreign countries would still cast their votes personally.
