House musters quorum

MANILA, Philippines - As Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. promised, the House of Representatives mustered a quorum last night, enabling it to vote on several measures.

Some 204 of the 287 members responded to the roll call, conducted at about 6 p.m.

Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella, who was presiding over the session, then called several measures for a vote.

Among the approved bills were those providing the legal framework for the Department of Education’s K-12 basic education program and strengthening the National Electrification Administration.

Over the weekend, Belmonte promised that he, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II and other House leaders would be able to gather enough attendance this week.

He said they were reminding their colleagues to attend sessions.

“Yes, we’re reminding them. We are confident of a quorum next week,” he said in a text message in response to reporters’ queries.

Gonzales has attributed the thinning attendance in the House to “election fever,” referring to the May 2013 congressional-local elections still five months away.

For his part, Rep. Sherwin Tugna of the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption said one of the duties of a House member is to attend the chamber’s plenary sessions, which are held only from Monday through Wednesday.

He said the elections next year are not a “valid excuse to be absent and to be remiss in our duties as lawmakers.”

“The whole nation is watching us whether we would be able to pass the important laws we promised to pass. It would be terrible and sad to have to look into every citizen’s eye and make excuses for not being able to approve important bills,” he said.

Tugna reminded his colleagues of their duty to be present in every session in the wake of the failure of the House to gather enough attendance from Monday through Wednesday this week, preventing it from taking up important measures.

“With all due respect, I would like to remind my fellow lawmakers and colleagues in the House to please reassess their stand on their attendance. Even with the elections coming up, we are still members of the 15th Congress, and we have a duty to our country and our people,” Tugna said.

He urged them to set aside politicking until January and show “political maturity” so they could approve pending bills.

He said although the campaign period has yet to start, many of his colleagues are already on campaign mode.

“We have to act on important bills while there is still time,” he said.

He said among the measures that have to be approved are the antitrust bill, amendments to the anti-money laundering law, the controversial reproductive health bill, and the freedom of information bill.

“We also have to approve the budget and the proposed increase in taxes on sin products like cigarettes and liquor,” he added.