Senate, House list top priorities

The 12th Congress resumes session today with an outline of priorities focusing on economic and other reforms.

Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday the economy will be the focus of the House of Representatives during the remainder of the first regular session of Congress that ends in June.

"We will work on proposed pieces of legislation that will propel the economy and the nation forward," he said on the eve of the resumption of session.

Meanwhile, Senate President Franklin Drilon said his chamber is determined to speed up passage of a variety of measures, ranging from electoral reforms and the creation of a Department of Housing to the grant of incentives to rural enterprises and the establishment of small claims courts.

"We have identified a short-list of priority measures that we hope to approve between now and March and those that we expect to pass by June this year. With this heavy load ahead of us, I expect full cooperation from the opposition and less talk of coups and politics," Drilon said.

De Venecia said the consolidated housing reform bill has also been classified as urgent at the House, which also seeks to pass a bill to securitize housing mortgages and other assets. There is also a proposal to make it easier for banks to dispose of their non-performing loans and foreclosed assets.

He said the housing reform measure is important "because it would spur mass construction of dwelling units for low and middle income groups."

The program will create a "ripple effect" on several industries, including those producing cement, steel and wood, and generate a lot of employment, he stressed.

The measure has already been endorsed by the housing committee chaired by Rep. Prospero Nograles of Davao City.

As for the securitization bill, De Venecia said it would allow the government to raise additional funds using its assets and future income.

From the Malampaya, Palawan gas and oil joint venture project with Shell, he said the country expects to share at least $10 billion in several years.

"We can already use the money using that future income by selling part of its securities or bonds," he said.

He added that President Arroyo has agreed to his proposal to securitize at least $1 billion of the Malampaya income.

The third measure will be a big help to the local banking system which, when the legal framework is in place, would be able to expeditiously sell bad loans and idle assets to foreign investors.

Already, upon the invitation of De Venecia, Lehman Brothers, a big US-based investment bank, is offering to set aside $1 billion to acquire non-performing loans and assets.

Finance Secretary Jose Camacho has admitted that Lehman Brothers will earn profits by acquiring these assets, managing them and then selling them.

Critics of the measure and the securitization bill, however, see the two proposals as a bailout for distressed banks, behest loan borrowers and other racketeers.

Focus on legislation

Drilon said the Senate is firmly focused on the crucial legislation pending on the floor and in the committees.

The priority measures that the Senate expects to approve by March include those on election modernization, absentee balloting, dual citizenship, access to capital micro finance and reforms in government procurement.

During their workshop last November, the senators also identified a number of bills that they considered important and which they agreed to pass expeditiously.

These bills include reforms in the National Food Authority, exemption of judges and justices from the salary standardization law, increase in the retirement benefits in the judiciary, creation of a small clams court system, expansion of local government units’ authority over the police, creation of a government asset management mechanism and special purpose asset vehicle, creation of the Department of Housing and securitization of the secondary mortgage market.

Drilon said they are targeting to pass these proposed measures by June.

Moreover, the Senate chief said a number of measures are pending on the floor, meaning they have undergone committee work and are now ready for amendments and sponsorship prior to final approval.

These include additional incentives to barangay business enterprises, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2001, Philippine Plant Variety Protection, setting terms of office for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elective officials, regulating the ownership, sale and use of chainsaws, fixing specific limits on forest and non-forest lands, providing a sustainable management of forest resources, instituting a national land use policy, and amending the Ombudsman Act of 1989.

"The senators have been working on these bills since the opening of the 12th Congress in July. These are the products of quiet and painstaking committee work that do not earn media mileage but which are important to our people," Drilon said.

He had earlier expressed exasperation over unending talks of a coup that would oust him, saying these were "plain and simple politics."

He also lamented that the senators were being criticized for focusing on politicking rather than their legislative work.