Arroyo in vote push

Arroyo in vote push

MANILA (AFP): Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will lobby Congress to pass a law allowing the five million Filipinos working overseas to vote, a presidential palace statement said Saturday.

It is hoped that the law allowing absentee voting will be in place in time for the next presidential elections in May, 2004, the statement said.

Arroyo was quoted as describing the proposed law as a "debt" owed to the overseas workers who are a major source of foreign exchange for this country, remitting about seven to eight billion dollars back to the Philippines each year.