DUAL CITIZENSHIP BILL PASSED SOON

Manila, May 30, 2003 -- Millions of natural-born Filipino expatriates would 
soon regain their Filipino citizenship under the proposed "Philippine 
Citizenship Retention Act of 2003" with its imminent passage by Congress.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senate President Franklin Drilon met last 
Wednesday and reached a consensus to hasten passage of priority political 
reform measures that include the dual citizenship bill under House Bill 
4720 and its Senate counterpart measure.

"This is a major companion to the Absentee Balloting Act," said de Venecia, 
one of the original proponents of dual citizenship and the first to file an 
Absentee Balloting Act in Congress.

Drilon is one of the proponents of the Senate measure.

Filipino expatriates, who lived mostly in North America, Europe, Australia, 
and the Middle East, constitute a mighty economic force that could spur 
development in the countryside and boost the country's overall economic 
recovery, de Venecia noted..

He said Filipino expatriates are potential investors in real estate and 
even in rural projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer law that has drawn 
praises in the region as a model BOT law.