House OKs 11 bills on 2nd reading

MANILA, Philippines - Eleven bills, including those seeking stiffer penalties for the sale of “botcha” or “double dead” meat and prohibiting bullying in schools, have been approved on second reading at the House of Representatives.

The bills were approved on Monday night without amendments.

The approved bills include:

• House Bill 5496 prohibiting bullying in elementary and secondary schools and requiring the Department of Education to take action against harassment of students;

• HB 5490 providing stiffer penalties for violation of the meat inspection system;

• HB 5446 which mandates condominium developers to develop an area for socialized housing;

• HB 5509 seeking to provide special polling place for the disabled, the elderly and expectant mothers;

• HB 1215 guaranteeing that criminal offenses against minors will not benefit from the provisions of the Indeterminate Sentence Law;

• HB 5395 exempting poor litigants from posting bail when charged with non-capital offenses;

• HB 1219 rewarding prisoners with additional special time allowance if they will exhibit loyalty by not leaving their places of confinement during times of calamity or disorder;

• HB 5471 strengthening the regulation of health facilities and services;

• HB 5485 providing for sustainable forest management; and

• HB 2951 amending the law that establishes periods of prescription for violations penalized by special acts and municipal ordinances.

The House also approved HB 5492 granting legislative franchise for TV Maria Foundation Philippines to construct, install, establish and operate television broadcasting stations.

Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, one of the principal authors of HB 5446, said the measure will accelerate the provision of affordable socialized housing and provide underprivileged Filipinos the opportunity to own homes.

Other authors of the bill include Reps. Marcelino Teodoro of Marikina, Irvin Alcala of Quezon province, Angelo Palmones of Agham and Arnel Ty of LPGMA.

Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza, chairman of the House committee on agriculture, disclosed that serious threats to public health have prompted lawmakers to seek an increase in the penalties for the sale and distribution of hot meat to prison sentences as high as 10 years and a maximum fine of P1 million.

Other authors of the bill include Reps. Diosdado Arroyo of Camarines Sur, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Pampanga, Romeo Acop of Antipolo City and Herrera-Dy.

The former president, together with her son Diosdado, is also author of bills to reform the criminal justice system. These are HB 1215 and 1219.

HB 1215 seeks to exempt crimes against minors from the indeterminate sentence law.

In pushing for approval of HB 1219, Arroyo said special time allowance prescribed by existing law is not enough reward for prisoners who exhibit loyalty by not leaving their places of confinement during fires, civil disturbance and other similar incidents.

HB 1219 seeks to deduct two fifths of the period of sentence as reward for them.