A Busy Start
The 14th Congress opened on 23 July 2007 to a good start. Since then until 5 September, 2,443 House bills and 1,100 Senate bills have already been filed. Of the bills filed in the House, 1,262 bills of national application were read and referred to the respective committees. The figures are higher compared with the performance of the 13th Congress with 1,184 and 2,159 bills filed in the entire first regular session in the lower and upper chambers, respectively.
During the last session days of the 13th Congress, criticisms were hurled against the House when key legislation failed to be passed for lack of quorum. The list includes vital bills on Cheaper Medicines, National Tourism Policy, Credit Information System, and on Personal Equity Retirement Account.
These and other bills that failed to reach the 13th Congress' approval would have to be re-filed in the 14th Congress and go through the same process. Since these bills were already discussed and reported in the previous Congress, their passage is expected to be quicker this time. Moreso, members of the current Congress are seen to be more committed to their tasks as shown in their attendance record. (see related article)
President Arroyo asked Congress to craft legislation, stated in her State-of-the-Nation Address. The proposed measures were then considered and included in the first Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting on 7 August.
The outcome of the meeting was a common legislative agenda of 29 proposed measures addressing three areas. These are:
On economic progress
(In parentheses are House Bill or Senate Bill numbers on the measure)
1. Amendments to EPIRA Law to allow more access and competition
(HB 180 / SB 21, 52, 86, 160 and 211)
2. Creation of a Civil Aviation Authority (HB 246 / SB 385)
3. National Budget (submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations for deliberation)
4. Simplified Net Income Taxation System (HB 958 and 1140 / SB 103, 125, 126 and 448)
5. Rationalization of Fiscal Incentives (HB 1757 and 2278)
6. Credit Information System (SB 62)
7. Personal Equity Retirement Account (HB 94 / SB 70)
8. National Tourism Policy (HB 4, 173 and 952 / SB 88, 480, 481 and 491)
9. Amendments to Customs Brokers Law (HB 417 and 762 / SB 253)
10. Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)
(Pending in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations)
11. National Strategy to Conserve Resources and Help Arrest Climate Change (HB 397, 400, 490, 511, 732, 736, 766, 960 and 1403)
12. Renewable Energy (HB 51, 184, 486, 523, 950, 1000 and 1378 / SB 211 and 588)
13. Land Use Policy (HB 64 and 971 / SB 67, 68, 82 and 193)
14. Anti-Trust (SB 123)
15. Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Extension (HB 607 and 1402 / SB 38)
16. Promotion of IT Entrepreneurial Ventures (SB 320 and 324)
On educational reform and social equity
17. Affordable, Quality Medicine (HB 1, 307, 672, 717, 764, 951, 954, 1244, 1381, 1398, 1654, 1706 and 1758 / SB 90, 101 and 755)
18. Senior Citizens (HB 9, 156, 355, 444, 503, 577, 578, 677 and 774 / SB 1, 20, 65, 79 and 268)
19. Poll Watchdog Fund (SB 67 and 227)
20. Stiffer Penalties for Election Violence (SB 338)
21. Farmland as Loan Collateral (HB 32)
22. University of the Philippines Charter (HB 3, 198, 303, 673, 730 and 953 / SB 132 and 158)
23. Reversal of devolution of district hospitals (HB 1432)
24. Review of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (HB 33, 34, 35, 328, 743, 935 / SB 463, 616 and 780), Agricultural Fisheries Modernization Act (HB 123 / SB 219) and the Agri-Agra Law (HB 134 / SB 663)
On peace and order and rule of law
25. Witness Protection (HB 279, 385, 881 / SB 260)
26. Special Courts for Speedy Administration of Justice (SB 258 and 259)
27. Stiffer Penalties for Political Killings (HCR 1)
28. Harshest Penalties for Rogues in Uniform (no bills filed as of 5 September)
29. Review of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (no bills filed as of 5 September)
Currently, the House is pre-occupied with briefings regarding the proposed P1.2 trillion budget for 2008 which the Department of Budget and Management submitted last 22 August.. The record-high budget proposal aims to address the need for infrastructure and investment as well as the problem of social justice and peace and order as embodied in the LEDAC. House Committee on Appropriations chair Rep. Edcel Lagman expects to pass the measure before Congress takes a break in October. The Senate finance committee will be conducting budget hearings in the week of 10 September, simultaneous with the House deliberations.
Meanwhile, at least 16 separate bills providing for cheaper medicines were filed in the House and referred to the Committee on Health. Committee chair Rep. Arthur Pingoy started mobilizing for a series of public hearings. The bill was certified urgent even in the previous Congress but it only reached approval on the second reading. The counterpart committee in the Senate has already scheduled a joint meeting with the Committee on Trade and Commerce and the Committee on Finance for three bills and a resolution seeking to lower the cost of medicines. The Senate managed to pass the measure on third reading in the previous Congress, but since the process requires concurrence of both houses, the Senate has to work on passing the measure again. The Senate Committee on Health has scheduled its first hearing on 10 September.
The House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms perhaps is the busiest and also the fastest among the House committees. On 4 September, the House panel submitted the first committee report of the 14th Congress which seeks to postpone Barangay and SK elections from 29 October to the second Monday of May 2009. Committee Report No. 0001 regarding House Bill 2417 is a consolidation of 12 other bills and a resolution. The following day, the bill was approved on second reading. It is scheduled for debate for approval on third reading on 17 September. Even if approved, a version of the bill has yet to be filed in the Senate. The last Barangay and SK election was held on 15 July 2002.
While the House is rushing the postponement of the October Barangay and SK elections, the Senate is “multi-tasking” on legislation, ratification, and investigation. Senate bills are on committee-level work while JPEPA discussions are on schedule. The Senate President, mindful of the reaction to the issue of re-opening of the “Hello Garci” case has pushed for this hectic workload to assuage concerns that it would hamper law making. The Senate was also keen on probing the controversial broadband deal with the ZTE Company.
A Robust Attendance…so far
At least 135 members (56% of the 238* members of the House) have posted perfect attendance since the start of the 14th Congress. Seventy-four of those with perfect attendance record are first-term members. Ten House members were absent in only one session on account of official mission, while 21 members missed a session.
Of the first 18 session days, the House never adjourned for lack of quorum and only once due to bad weather. Attendance went as high as 230 (97% of all the members). On the average, about 220 legislators attend every plenary session.
However, trailing the list is returning Rep. Julio Ledesma (Negros Occidental, 1st district) who missed the session 11 times while Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo (Lanao del Norte, 2nd district) was absent in nine sessions. Rep. Victor Dominguez (Mountain Province, lone district) likewise has nine absences but one was due to an official mission. Reps. Michael John Duavit (Rizal, 1st district) and Carmencita Reyes (Marinduque, lone district) each has seven absences.
The Senate has a slightly higher percentage with 68% (15 out of the 23 members) have perfect attendance. Eight of the 17 sessions were attended by all senators except for Sen. Antonio Trillanes who was still was unable to attend the sessions because of his incarceration due to a pending coup charge.
Only three senators – Biazon, Legarda and Roxas, were absent in at least one of the sessions while four others – Angara, Lapid, Madrigal and Zubiri, were absent on account of official mission.
The dismal performance of the previous 13th Congress called the attention of the House leadership to find ways of increasing attendance in the plenary. Aside from the “No work, No pay” policy, another measure proposed was the “shame campaign” where the House will buy regular space in daily newspapers to publish the list of frequent absentees. Still another move calls for providing incentives to the members who religiously attend the sessions. Since the start of the 14th Congress showed an improved attendance, the House did not push through with the proposed measures.
The improved attendance record is credited to the significant number of first-termers especially in the lower chamber who are eager to get on with their legislative work. The House has a new set of legislators – 115 first-termers and 122
re-elected members including 11 of the party-list sector representatives. At the Senate, seven are re-elected members (Sens. Biazon and Pimentel were re-elected in the 2004 elections) of the 23-member chamber. Former Senator Lim, while having three years more to finish his term, assumed the mayoralty post in the city of Manila. (For a list of 14th Congress legislators, visit www.mbc.com.ph/congresswatch).
*
The House now has 238 members with the addition of An Waray Party-list Rep. Florencio Noel who took his oath of office on 4 September 2007.
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