Ople hails absentee voting bill passage

Press Release No. 042-03
04 February 2003

OPLE HAILS ABSENTEE VOTING BILL PASSAGE

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople yesterday hailed the bicameral conference agreement on absentee voting for overseas workers as a landmark decision proclaiming the maturity and vigor of Philippine democracy.

The secretary, who as a senator co-authored the first of the absentee voting bills in the Senate, said that the agreement also broke the ice of mistrust that had denied 7.4 million overseas Filipinos the right to vote since February 2, 1987.

Leading the toast at the conclusion of the signing ceremony at the Department of Foreign Affairs on Roxas Boulevard, Ople said:
“This is a clear victory for the Filipino people and we must accord fair tribute to the legislators who worked hard for it, fighting their own doubts.”

Ople said the honor roll includes Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, Speaker Jose de Venecia, Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and electoral reforms, Congressman Apolinario Lozada, Jr., co-chairman of the House committee, Congressman Jesli Lapus of Tarlac, chairman of the House committee, Congressman Teddy Boy Locsin of Makati, Congresswoman Imee Marcos, Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Senator Loren Legarda, Senator John Osmena, Senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator Manny Villar, Senator Tessie Oreta, Senator Robert Jaworski, Senator Robert Barbers, and others.

Ople also said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo deserves full credit for certifying the bill as an urgent administration measure. The President, when she was still senator, also co-authored the overseas absentee voting bill.

The bicameral conference successfully resolved the main sticking point in favor of enfranchising some 3 million Filipino immigrants abroad, including two million in the U.S., provided they manifest their intention to return some day to the Philippines. He said this is only fair to the Filipino immigrants in the U.S. who had resisted the allure of foreign citizenship because they would not abandon or forsake the honor and dignity of being Filipinos.

Ople said when he informed the President of the success of the bicameral conference upon her arrival from Kuwait, “She was overjoyed and immediately ordered the signing of the bill into law by Friday morning.

But he said the President needed an enrolled copy of the bill, which was to be sent to Malacanang upon the ratification of the conference committee report by both houses of Congress. Swift ratification was assured by Senator Angara for the Senate and Congressman Lapus for the Lower House.

The foreign secretary assured the nation that the country’s foreign service was fully prepared to assist the Commission on Elections in conducting the overseas poll which will require the cooperation of the host governments in 140 countries where they work.

Ople said it was a privilege for the DFA to play the role of host to the series of bicameral conference meetings held at the DFA Summit Lounge.

Before the signing, Ople passed on glasses of champagne to the conferees which he said were donated by Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon. He said Gordon cheerfully did so, noting that the country’s tourist volume had improved by 20 per cent for the month of January.
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