Yearender: House produces ‘harvest of responsive legislation’

MANILA, Philippines - Socio-economic and fiscal reform bills as well as other legislation to help communities devastated by calamities were the main focus this year of the House of Representatives, which also managed to act swiftly on measures pushed by Malacañang at the last minute.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. at the start of the year dismissed the various political disturbances in the House, including attempts to impeach Supreme Court justices, saying lawmakers “must focus on the many concerns confronting our people.”

In his address to the chamber as Congress adjourned for the Christmas break, Belmonte thanked his colleagues for their cooperation and hard work that he said resulted in a
“harvest of meaningful and responsive legislation,” bannered by the ratification of the proposed 2015 P2.6-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) and the P22.4-billion supplemental budget.

“Since 2011, a re-enacted budget has become a thing of the past. I trust that the timely passage of the 2015 GAA will enable the government to roll out its programs and projects, thereby ensuring the continued delivery of vital services to our people,” he said.

He said the approval of the supplemental budget for 2014 is also vital because urgent infrastructure, socio-economic rehabilitation and reconstruction projects, which are not funded under existing laws, need to be funded and commenced at the earliest possible time.

Belmonte, however, said an even greater challenge to the rehabilitation of calamity-affected areas would be to provide the means by which victims could rebuild their lives better than before.

“We should not merely rebuild damaged infrastructure and property, or restore means of livelihood, or resume disrupted classes. We should also restore hope, confidence and resolve in individuals, families and communities,” he said.

“It is only through genuine empowerment that our people can truly live their own lives, fend for their own families and carve their own future,” he added.

As of Dec. 17, the House has processed 1,688 measures. Of these bills, 20 were enacted into law and 350 more were approved on third and final reading. To date, the chamber was in receipt of some 7,115 measures filed by lawmakers, of which 5,305 are bills and 1,810 resolutions. The total number of committee reports is 527.

Key socio-economic legislation enacted into law include Republic Act 10635 or Establishing the MARINA as the Single Maritime Administration; RA 10638, Extending the Corporate Life of Philippine National Railways For Another Fifty Years; RA 10641, Allowing the Full Entry of Foreign Banks; RA 10644, Promoting Job Generation and Inclusive Growth Through the Development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; RA 10645, An Act Providing For the Mandatory PhilHealth Coverage For All Senior Citizens; RA 10647, Strengthening the Ladderized Interface Between Technical-Vocational Education and Training and Higher Education; and RA 10648, Providing Scholarship Grants to Top Graduates of All Public High Schools.

Other House-approved measures enacted into law were the Free Mobile Disaster Alerts Act; Strengthening the Anti-Drug Campaign; Picture-based (cigarette) Health Warning Act; Iskolar ng Bayan Act; and Open Learning through Distance Education.

The chamber also ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the amendments to the Fisheries Code, and adopted the Senate version of the proposed tax exemption for 13th-month pay and other bonuses. The proposed statute on the establishment of the Open High School System for out-of-school youth and adults is under bicameral consideration.

‘Emergency powers’ resolution

During the last quarter of the year, the House committee on energy chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali began deliberations on the proposed Joint Resolution 21, whose immediate passage was sought by President Aquino to grant him emergency powers to deal with the expected power shortage in Luzon next year.

Aquino had invoked Section 71 of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) to allow him to enter into contracts that let the government tap additional generating capacity.

Under EPIRA, the government is barred from engaging in the power generation business.

Almost immediately after the resolution was filed by Malacañang, the House leadership junked the proposal contained in the measure, which was strongly pushed by Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, for the government to lease or buy expensive power barges from foreign suppliers, saying the move will cost taxpayers as much as P12 billion for just a short period of use.

Reps. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna and Terry Ridon of the Kabataan party-list group warned the proposal to lease power barges was only meant to line the pockets of certain administration officials in an election year.

In the end, in a vote of 148-18, the House passed on Dec. 10 the resolution but mandated that the government implement instead the Interruptible Load Program (ILP), where large industrial and commercial establishments such as malls, and some government offices, are required to disconnect from the grid during peak hours and use their own generators to free up power for households and small users.

Bangsamoro Basic Law

After months of delay, Aquino personally submitted to Belmonte and Senate President Franklin Drilon in September the draft of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao.

The initial plan was to have the proposed BBL approved by the House before the end of the year but after 34 public hearings – most of which were conducted in various provinces in Mindanao – the ad hoc committee conducting the deliberations said more work is needed owing to various constitutional issues that arose in the course of the hearings.

The BBL, according to Malacañang, should be approved by Congress next year to allow for the conduct of a plebiscite in affected areas and the appointment of transition officials before the election of new leaders in the envisioned autonomous Bangsamoro region.

Retired SC Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza said the proposed law as it is “is beyond the power of Congress to pass” and that there were at least five provisions in the draft that were unconstitutional.

He said the BBL referred to the new autonomous region in Mindanao to be created by the proposed law as a “territory” and “ancestral homeland” of the Bangsamoro people, which is contrary to the Constitution.

He said the term “territory” in law refers to a part of the country separated from the rest or a geographical area under the jurisdiction of another country or sovereign power.

Mendoza also warned that the BBL has given extensive authority to the proposed Bangsamoro government over many areas while effectively limiting the powers of the national government.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, chairman of the ad hoc panel, said the House remains committed to the peace process in Mindanao even as he vowed that the chamber will come up with the BBL that will stand legal and constitutional scrutiny.