Under the new setup, the President and Prime Minister will be elected by members of Parliament from among themselves.

The Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 enacted by the 12th Congress only empowers voters abroad to vote for national officials like the president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.

Since members of Parliament will be elected by congressional (local) districts, overseas voters will be effectively shut out from the electoral process.

Then all the fanfare and hoopla (and huge expense) to enfranchise at least seven million qualified overseas Filipino voters, prominently the OFWs who shore up the flagging Philippine economy through their dollar remittances estimated at close to $9 billion this year, goes out of the window.

One probable way out is to immediately amend the law enabling overseas voters to vote in local elections. But this is easier said than done considering that it took nearly two decades to pass this historic legislation.

Speaker Jose C. de Venecia, in New York for the holidays, is willing to hear suggestions from Filipinos abroad and has asked this newspaper for ways on how to encourage wider participation in Philippine elections. (He is the principal author of the Absentee Balloting Act and the Dual Citizenship Act in the 12th Congress.)

For starters, Congress should do away with the requirement that overseas voters need to return home three years after voting in a national election. This unpalatable rule discouraged many from registering and voting in the 2004 national elections.

For another, overseas voters working and living in the United States should be allowed to vote by mail. Many of them have to travel long distances to register at the Philippine Embassy in Washington, D.C. and consulates — and later on cast their votes.

After all, Filipinos living in England, Japan and Canada can vote by mail. Why not Filipinos in the U.S. where the postal system works like, well, clockwork.