Unheard stories from Batasan
Credit to Author: ROLLY G. REYES| Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2019 17:02:32 +0000
The House of Representatives is often found in “mute” mode when at work, and so it is often ridiculed unfairly. Not many outsiders know when it has prepared pieces of legislations in the pipeline, or its list of meritorious bills already approved and due for signing into law.
I suspect the lawmakers of the lower house of Congress have been infected within a very short time with the work ethics of their overall conductor — Former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The lady’s energy can be contagious when she deals with any job thrown at her table. This feisty but workaholic leader knows that a 24-hour cycle is not enough to constitute a day. Meticulous planning and studying the impact of her work for the greater good is her consistent menu for the day.
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Here are highlights of some of those feats yet unheard:
The lower house, upon Speaker GMA’s return from a Saudi mission, created a technical working group (TWG) to assess the status of roll-on roll-off (RO-RO) Port System missionary routes.
Speaker Arroyo wants the RO-RO system to be revitalized and expanded to further spur growth in the regions. The TWG, to be chaired by Speaker Arroyo, will oversee the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) as it acts on the committee’s suggestion to sell the unused RO-RO missionary routes to the private sector.
Speaker GMA said the investment mission that she led in Saudi Arabia has been fruitful. Arroyo said the investment mission came up with six specific project proposals that she hoped would jumpstart the next phase of development in Mindanao following the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). She looks way ahead into the future, knowing that the BOL will need pump priming at the earliest possible time.
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The House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, led by GMA and chaired by Rep. Alfredo Benitez, called for the Philippine National Railways (PNR) to officially waive its claims over a 1,000-square meter property in Parola Estate in Tondo, Manila for the benefit of its urban poor occupants. The Speaker announced that the Committee shall reconvene even during the session break and the election period to ensure that the socialized housing projects are completed at the soonest possible time.
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I have to give it to Rep. Anthony Bravo of the Coop-Natcco Partylist. He deplored the malicious tirades of Sen. Ping Lacson vilifying the House members and the institution as a whole. He contested Lacson’s derogatory labeling of the HoR’s budget initiatives as “pork,” while labeling those of the Senate as “institutional ammendments.”
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Bravo criticized the Senate contingent to the bicameral conference on the 2019 national budget for its refusal to submit the list of the Senate’s individual amendments to the national budget, despite insistence by the House conferees.
He said the House conferees, led by the Committee on Appropriations Chairman Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., made a very public statement in a bicameral session that the Senate inserted P190 billion in amendments to the 2019 budget. He said the P190-billion Senate insertions would have been kept secret again had the House conferees agreed to the senators’ proposal not to allow media coverage of the bicameral sessions.
Bravo said the House conferees pushed for media coverage of the bicameral sessions precisely to avoid suspicions of horse-trading or secret insertions.
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A clarificatory statement on House Resolution 2467:
House Majority Leader and Capiz Representative Fredenil Castro said on Friday, with the unanimous approval of this resolution, public access to the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN) will soon be made much easier.
He said the days of tedious and expensive way of seeking copies of the SALN of lawmakers are over. The parties making the request no longer have to ask the courts to issue a subpoena duces tecum; they merely have to ask and follow the simple procedure provided under HR 2467.
SALN summary copies are also expected to be released much earlier than in previous years, since the resolution offers a provision for self-imposed deadlines in the distribution of the summary.
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The House of Representatives has approved on second reading a bill that shall further promote and protect the rights of senior citizens.
House Bill 7030, or the proposed “Anti-Elder Abuse Act,” principally authored by Rep. Victor Yap (2nd District, Tarlac), seeks to protect senior citizens from violence. With this, the bill defines elder abuse and prescribe penalties for offenders.
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Legislative efforts to alleviate poverty across the country continue as the House of Representatives adopted Senate Bill 2121 as an amendment to House Bill 5811, or the proposed “Magna Carta of the Poor.”
It seeks to uplift the standard of living and quality of life of the poor, and provide them with sustained opportunities for growth and development. It also aims to achieve an inclusive and sustainable path to end poverty in all its forms.
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The House has also approved on second reading House Bills (HBs) 8884, 8885 and 8959. These measures are expected to be approved on third and final reading next week.
HB 8884 seeks to expand the coverage of travel-tax exemption and provide a 20 percent travel tax discount to senior citizens and PWDs.
HB 8885 seeks to institutionalize likewise the grant of 20-percent student fare discount privileges on public transportation. Students will also receive a 20-percent discount on regular domestic fares of all public transportation utilities, including land, rail, sea and air.
HB 8959 will amend Republic Act 4136, or the Land Transportation and Traffic Code, to address the tremendous daily suffering of commuters because of the traffic congestion.
If approved into law, the ride application Angkas and the habal-habal will be permitted.
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I really hope the sonics will reverberate to the ears of their constituents. Your taxes are well spent in this work mode.
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Good work, good deeds and good faith to all.
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