Dual citizenship, absentee voting bills face rough sailing

The Absentee Voting Bill and a complementary measure, the Dual Citizenship Bill, face rough sailing in the House of Representatives.

"With only two weeks remaining of our first year-long regular session, I doubt whether we can approve these two measures," Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday.

He said many of his colleagues have serious reservations about the two measures that seek to give millions of overseas Filipinos the right to vote in national elections and to give former Filipinos the privilege to reacquire Philippine citizenship.

In the case of the Absentee Voting Bill, the questions focus on its implementation, he said.

He noted that the Department of Foreign Affairs has announced that it was not ready to implement the measure in case it is enacted into law.

The Senate has already opened floor debates on the measure seeking voting rights for overseas Filipinos. In March and April, a joint Senate-House team conducted consultations with Filipino communities in Hong Kong, Japan, the Middle East, Rome, and in New York and Los Angeles.

The consultations were led by Sen. Edgardo Angara and Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco Jr.

As for the Dual Citizenship Bill, Gonzales said there are doubts on whether Filipinos who have become Americans, Australians, Europeans, or nationals of more progressive countries still want to regain Philippine citizenship.

He said during its last two seeks of session ending Thursday next week, the House would give priority to measures to which there are few objections or none at all.

"This would enable us to act more expeditiously on pending bills," he said.

The bills that Gonzales considers less objectionable include the Securitization Act and the Small Business Enterprises Act, both sponsored by Rep. Oscar Moreno (Lakas, Misamis Oriental), who chairs the economic affairs committee.

Other measures that the House will try to approve before Congress adjourns session on June 6 are the bill creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the proposed changes in the Electric Power Industry Reforms Act (Epira).

The Epira amendments are contained in Bill 4741 that President Arroyo has certified as urgent. – Jess Diaz