No. 61 - July 20, 2001
12th Congress Opens 23 July

There will be 24 Senators in place for the new Congress when it convenes on 23 July. Added to the remaining roster of 11 Senators serving until 2004 are 13 newly-elected ones. Twelve of them will serve until 2007 while one who ranks number 13* on the Commission on Elections' tally will automatically serve the unfinished term (1998-2004) of former Senator now Vice-President Teofisto Guingona, Jr.

Four of the 13 were elected for the first-time to the Senate: Noli de Castro, Loi Ejercito-Estrada, Panfilo Lacson, and Francis Pangilinan while three were former Congressmen in the 11th Congress-Joker Arroyo, Manuel Villar, and Ralph Recto. Five of the seven re-electionists--Franklin Drilon, Juan Flavier, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., and Sergio Osmeña III--were returned to office while two (Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Juan Ponce Enrile) lost in the last election. Sen. Edgardo Angara returns after serving as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture during the Estrada administration.

People Power Coalition candidates vying for the Senate Presidency are Senators Drilon, Cayetano, and Arroyo. The dilemma of choosing a single candidate for the PPC has threatened the coalition's unity. Although Drilon and Cayetano want a power-sharing scheme, the opposition thinks this is impossible considering there is no party that can muster a majority yet. Neophyte Senator Arroyo is likely to concede, which leaves Sen. Pimentel (current president) as an acceptable alternative for both the administration and the opposition.

But it is worth pointing that Sen. Angara is a former Senate President in the 10th Congress and could still pull off a win over his rivals. On voting day, expect swing votes from Senators de Castro, Biazon, and Pimentel, which could make a difference.

LAKAS Rules the House
The House will now have Representatives for 209 congressional districts including the new district of Zamboanga Sibugay. The COMELEC has yet to proclaim winners for the second districts of Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, leaving two seats vacant.

Of the 207, there are 104 first-termers, 78 second-termers, and 25 congressmen on their last term. Of the 49 Congressmen whose term limits were due last election, 15 were replaced by a relative. Notably, about 13 of the 49 ran for Mayor or Governor.

Four big parties, namely, LAKAS, NPC, LP, and LDP have the most members in this Congress. Knowing the tactical alliances of Lakas with other parties, the short-lived candidacy of Rep. Florencio Abad (Batanes-Lone district) was considered a courageous risk to win the Speakership versus old-timer Rep. Jose de Venecia (Pangasinan-4th district). It looks like a sure win for former Speaker de Venecia after Abad dropped from the race.

The Party-List
The COMELEC went back to the first process it should have taken before accepting any Party-List candidate. It is now conducting evidentiary hearings of all 162 party-list candidates after Bayan Muna, et. al. raised to the Supreme Court that certain groups are not truly marginalized or underrepresented but were able to join in the party-list election.

Based on COMELEC's Party-List Canvass Report No. 24 on 4 July, it seems that those who already got at least two percent of the total votes will have to prove that they are representing the marginalized sector. Otherwise, they will be disqualified. The COMELEC hopes to finish the hearings by next week and thereafter proclaim the winners.

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