The Philippine Online Chronicles

With barely a month before the 14^th Congress adjourns, House Speaker Prospero Nograles said that no bill will be discussed until the next Congress convenes. He said all measures will be referred to the 15^th Congress.

Congress resumed session earlier than scheduled to canvass votes of the presidential and vice presidential posts.

Before the chamber went on break last February to give way to the electoral campaign, lack of quorum delayed the proceedings of many unfinished bills and resolutions. The Lower House lacked warm bodies to officially conduct business, and so the pending bills were not acted upon, and will have to be resubmitted in the next Congress.

Freedom of Information Bill remains untouched

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill was left untouched as the House adjourned session last February 3. Although the Senate ratified the reconciled version of the measure last February 1, the Lower House failed to do the same because of lack of quorum.

FOI or HB 3732 mandates public scrutiny of all information on official acts, transactions, and decisions. Information may be obtained through a request submitted to a concerned agency either personally, by mail or electronic means. The passage of this bill will ensure transparency in the public sector enabling meaningful participation, promoting accountability and of course, mitigating corruption.

For Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casino, the passage of this bill is a fitting symbolic ending to the 14^th Congress, especially as transparency and accountability are among the issues raised against the Arroyo’s presidency.

He said it is “hard to say" if Malacañang had a hand in the failure of the House to ratify the FOI bill, but added that “if Malacañang wants something, it’s so easy for them to do it.”

Meanwhile, Quezon Rep. Erin Tanada III is still hopeful that the chamber would ratify the FOI bill as it has already reached the bicameral conference committee level. The solon said the approval of the measure will hopefully make every citizen a graft buster.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, the principal author of HB 3732 and also the head of the bicameral conference committee said the proposed law will ease the burden of the general public in obtaining information from all government offices as it will “compel all government offices into complying with the requests for information.

Earlier, Speaker Nograles, who gave an assurance on the passage of the FOI bill, denied that he derailed its ratification. Government critics claimed that he was in cahoots with the Palace, which despite expressing support for the bill, is still thought by some sectors as being against the bill's enactment into law.

Wage hike, hands off

House Bill 1722 or the Beltran Bill, (in honor of late Rep. Crispin Beltran) that demands for a legislated P125 across-the-board nationwide wage increase for workers have been persistently denied by the administration. In the Senate, there are 4 pending bills supporting the long overdue wage hike for workers. Labor groups say the Arroyo government actively blocked efforts for a legislated wage increase. During the recent Labor Day celebration, there was no announcement of any wage hike.

During the 13^th Congress, the bill proposing the P125 daily wage increase passed the third and final reading in the Lower House. But it was recalled due to an alleged constitutional flaw and obviously has no more chance of getting enacted by the current legislature.

When Rep. Jose de Venecia was still House Speaker, he said that the bill was “dead in the water.” He believed that the House must not take up wage increases.

Valenzuela Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo III who chairs the House Committee on Labor and Employment shares the same position that wage hikes should be addressed through wage boards. According to Gunigundo, what Congress can do to help minimum wage earners is to enact more laws on tax deductions. The Committee on Ways and Means has at least 16 pending bills on tax exemptions and deductions.

RH Bill, too hot to handle

The House has also shelved the Church-opposed Reproductive Health bill. In the last two session days, House Speaker Nograles said the House don’t have time to accommodate House Bill 5043 because there are twenty congressmen who have lined up to interpellate (on the measure). He said that RH is such a controversial measure that is too contentious and had little chance of being voted on.

The RH bill was authored by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman. It became a "political hot potato" for presidential candidates and House members. The bill, which seeks to step up the promotion of both natural and artificial birth control methods through government programs, is an issue proved to be too hot to handle.

Proponents of the bill who claimed to have garnered enough signatures to ensure its passage, have plead the House leadership to put the bill to a vote, especially since so many hours were already spent debating on the measure.

Rep. Lagman is still hopeful that the bill would be passed, not by this Congress but by the next administration. “This is not the end of the road for the RH bill. We still have the 15th Congress,” he said.

The measure was filed during the 8th Congress (1987-1992), during the Aquino regime, and subsequently re-filed in the next Congresses.

Elusive genuine agrarian reform program

Although Congress extended the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARPER for five more years and alloted P100 billion for its land acquisition and distribution program, farmers are still demanding for a genuine agrarian reform program.

House Bill 4077 or the bill on CARP extension with reforms passed the third and final reading in June 2009 with a total of 211 congressmen voting in the affirmative, while 13 voted against it. Two solons abstained from voting on the bill principally authored by Rep. Lagman and Akbayan partylist Rep. Risa Hontiveros.

Farmers in support the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB), a measure advocating land reform and free distribution of lands camped outside Batasan to express their dismay on the passage of HB 4077.

GARB proposes to empower the government to compulsory acquire not just vast landholdings but even confiscate “sullied” lands that will then be distributed for free to qualified farmer-beneficiaries. The progressive bloc of lawmakers in Congress believes that the CARPer law will not end the problem of landlessness in the country.

Right of Reply Bill, frozen

The House leadership has also thrown the Right of Reply bill (RORB) into the freezer. Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia said that the bill had been overtaken by events and legislators don’t want to discuss it anymore.

Congress deferred plenary debates on the controversial bill. Although Senate already approved its version of the bill, some Senators have withdrawn their support including Senators Francis Escudero, Mar Roxas and Loren Legarda.

The Right of Reply Bill was separately authored by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella.

Amid criticisms, especially from journalists and media practitioners, Congress watered down its version of the bill. Several amendments such as the penalty of imprisonment will no longer be imposed and the implementing rules and regulations would be drafted by media practitioners. The newer version also mandates the creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee that would oversee and review the law’s implementation for five years. It could also recommend the law’s repeal or amendment.

With these amendments, Rep. Puentevella and Rep. Abante hoped that the proposed law would be more acceptable to their House colleagues and to the media.

However, the Arroyo administration warned that any bill curtailing press freedom would not be signed, suggesting that the controversial right of reply measure would be vetoed if Congress approves it.

BNPP, untimely rebirth

Another controversial yet unfinished business is the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). In 2007, as oil prices peaked and electricity rates increased, Pangasinan Representative Mark Cojuangco filed House Bill 4631, a bill calling for the immediate re-commissioning and rehabilitation of the BNPP.

The bill was supported by 184 representatives, enough number to assure its immediate passage in the Lower House. However, it took ten months and eight meetings before the bill got approved by the committees of energy, appropriations and rules.

On May 2009, House Bill 6300 replaced the original bill, which requires a feasibility study with a price tag of P100 million before rehabilitation resumes. Although the bill is not on the priority list, it was tackled at the plenary level.

No quorum or no political will

The 14^th Congress will close its third regular session without passing pending bills and important measures. It takes months, even years before a bill and resolution finally gets enacted as a law.

The Lower House has 58 standing committees and 12 special committees. The largest committee is the Appropriations with 125 members. HOR currently has 265 members, 216 members are district representatives while 49 are party-list/sectoral representatives. A representative’s term is three years. During a three-year term period, a lawmaker can author and co-author as many legislative measures as possible.

Speaker Nograles says that the House has acted on 2,477 measures including the following:

• passage of 476 bills into Republic Acts
• 39 bills awaiting President Arroyo's signature or awaiting ratification
• 664 resolutions on inquiries in aid of legislation
• 80 national bills and 390 local bills
• 1,011 measures passed on third reading

Most of these measures are local bills.

On June 4, the House of Representatives will conduct its closing ceremonies and prepare for the opening of the 15^th Congress on July 26 and the most pressing measures that need Congress’ approval will remain part of the unfinished business.