House to tackle ‘sin taxes’ after reorganization

And now for the hard part.

The House of Representatives has completed 95 percent of its reorganization and will now buckle down to work on its priority, sin taxes, in hopes of raising up to P15 billion in annual revenue for the government, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said yesterday.

De Venecia described the allocation of committee chairmanships, vice chairmanships and memberships as "fair and equitable power sharing, responsibility sharing and burden sharing."

He said that discussions over the committee allocations received "substantial" input from all political parties, including the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Liberal Party (LP), Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), Nacionalista Party (NP), Aksyon Demokratiko, the PDP-Laban, and the party-list organizations.

De Venecia said the House will start its public hearings by next week, and topping its agenda will be the bill on the so-called "sin taxes" or taxes imposed on alcoholic drinks and cigarettes.

"If necessary we will have hearings twice a week on the revenue and tax-reform measures as well as economic development and social reform initiatives," he said.

As of last week, 2,386 House bills and 130 resolutions had already been filed.

Only the composition of the House contingent in the Commission of Appointments (CA) and in the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) have yet to be finalized. But De Venecia expects their makeup to be known by next Wednesday.

"Everybody is happy," said Majority Leader Prospero Nograles. "We have substantially complied with the Speaker’s instructions by giving each party what it deserves based on proportional representation."

De Venecia said that, as in 1998 and 2001, the process of giving out committee assignments took at least 15 days.

A list of committee chairmanships released by Nograles showed Lakas-CMD, the biggest party in the House, dominating with 30 committee chairmanships and at least 60 vice-chairmanships.

The NPC, the second biggest party in the House, received 13 committee chairmanships and at least 40 vice chairmanships

The NPC had one of its stalwarts, Rep. Douglas Cagas (Davao del Sur) appointed as head of the House contingent in the HRET and has three representatives in the CA, namely, Reps. Manuel Ortega of La Union, Jesus Jardin Romualdo of Camiguin, and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte.

Two senior positions went to the NPC, with Rep. Emilio Espinosa (Mabate) named Deputy Speaker for Luzon and Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella (Camarines Sur) named Deputy Majority Leader.

The LP, the third biggest party, received 11 committee chairmanships and at least 35 vice-chairmanships. It got the position of Deputy Speaker for Benigno Aquino III (Tarlac) and has two Deputy Majority Leaders in Reps. Harlin Abayon (Northern Samar) and Fred Castro (Quezon). Its lone representative to the HRET is Rep. Lawrence Wacnang (Kalinga).

Kampi received 10 chairmanships and at least 20 vice chairmanships. It also has one representative in the CA, Rep. Victor Sumulong (Antipolo City) and one in the Committee on Rules.

The NP received two committee chairmanships and at least 12 vice chairmanships.

The party-list groups split among themselves four committee chairmanships and at least 24 vice chairmanships. They were led by Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales, chair of the Committee on Political and Human Rights, and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, chair of the Special Committee on Peace and Reconciliation.

Rep. Edcel Lagman (Albay), the lone Aksyon Demokratiko member in the House, was appointed vice chair of the Committee on Trade and Industry, while Rep. Teodoro Locsin (Makati City), the lone PDP-Laban member, was appointed vice chair of three committees, Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Banks.

Nograles said the reported bickering over the allocation of chairmanships involved mostly intramurals within each political party.

"We told them to give us their best and brightest so that the committees can have the best possible performance at the end of the day," he said.

De Venecia also praised the leaders of the minority, led by Minority Leader Francis Escudero of Sorsogon, for their show of unity.