ON July 23, 2018, in what was supposed to be a usual State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Duterte, an unexpected turn of events changed the dynamics of the Lower House—the sudden ouster of former House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez and the election of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as his replacement.
The abrupt change of leadership took place starting from before until after the Sona proper. As an organized protest timed with the Sona—which was said to be the biggest in number of participants—was happening a few blocks from the Sandiganbayan, some House members inside the Batasang Pambansa Complex’s plenary hall were also having their own “protest” to oust Alvarez via a manifesto. They said Arroyo should replace Alvarez because the country “will benefit from the experience, competence, sobriety, steady and unifying leadership” of the former president.
Ousting the then-Speaker took a whole day because Alvarez was not present during the morning, when the manifesto was raised, effectively putting the matter on hold. However, after the 50-minute Sona of the President, the manifesto resurfaced as Alvarez was already in the hall. Some 244 members of the House of Representatives resumed session that evening, formally replacing Alvarez with Arroyo in a landslide 184 affirmative votes against 12 abstentions.
Arroyo is the first female Speaker of the Lower House, and for her first 12 session days as new leader, bills in various stages were rapidly being approved.
With the quick turn of events in the Lower House, what accomplishment could have been achieved so far from House Speaker Arroyo’s 12 session days? What was the effect of this event on the dynamics of the Lower House and how did the management of “Speedy Arroyo” manage to rapidly address so many bills that were left at bay during Alvarez’s term?
BOL
ONE of the most significant laws that were passed is the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which initially became collateral damage in the chaos triggered by the coup against Alvarez. But the new Speaker quickly ensured the bill would get right back on track, and the bilateral conference committee version was quickly ratified by the chamber, and the law was signed by President Duterte in July 2018.
BOL, officially known as the “Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” creates the Bangsamoro region and abolishes the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
The Bangsamoro region would be headed by a chief minister and a ceremonial leader called a Wali.
Under its structural government, the region would have a parliament of 80 members composed of 50 percent party representatives, 40 percent district representatives and 10 percent sectoral representatives.
Except for energy-producing bodies of water like Lake Lanao that would be handled jointly by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Bangsamoro region, the latter would oversee all inland bodies of water.
The coverage of the region includes current ARMM provinces such as Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, while the outcome of a regional plebiscite is being awaited.
The law provides that “the six municipalities of Lanao del Norte and the 39 barangays of North Cotabato could vote to join the territory in a referendum to be conducted in the mother territory of the areas involved.”
Under the law, 75 percent of the national government taxes, fees and charges collected in the Autonomous Region in the Bangsamoro shall be shared with the Bangsamoro, including the shares of the local government units, and the remaining 25 percent goes to the national government.
Meanwhile, on revenue sources, the law states that “the Bangsamoro Government shall have the power to create its own sources of revenues and to levy taxes, fees and charges.”
The sources of revenue of the Bangsamoro government shall include taxes; fees and charges; annual block grant from the national government; revenues from exploration, development and utilization of natural resources; dividends from Bangsamoro government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), financial institutions and other corporations; grants and donations; and loans.
Rice tariffication bill
Another important bill that had languished but was quickly pushed is House Bill (HB) 7735, or the Revised Agricultural Tariffication Act, which was approved on third reading on August 14.
The rice tariffication bill is among the urgent measures presented by the President during his third Sona. HB 7735 was transmitted to the Senate, which is still deliberating on its own version at the committee level.
The bill aims to convert quantitative restrictions or caps on rice imports, into tariffs—a move seen to help lower prices of the staple.
The measure also mandates pooling the duties on rice imports into a “Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund,” which will help rice farmers become competitive, with low-interest beneficial loan services.
The bill gives powers to the National Food Authority in managing the direct importation of rice to check its quality and stock control.
Meanwhile, the President will also have the authority to control the applied rate, regulate rice exports, impose temporary regulations or restrictions on the volume of imports of rice and enter into trade negotiations or renegotiations relating to the bound or maximum rates committed to or to be committed by the Philippines in relation to rice.
Cha-cha update
Meanwhile, Arroyo said the House of Representatives will wait for the Senate’s move on the resolution for the two chambers to convene as a Constituent Assembly (Con-ass) to amend the 1987 Constitution.
Also, Arroyo already filed a resolution “expressing the sense of the House” that both chambers vote separately in a Con-ass to break the stalemate on the manner of voting and for Congress to advance the administration’s push for federalism.
Under the resolution, Arroyo said senators are a vital part of Charter change (Cha-cha) to reach a federal system of government.
Arroyo has also directed lawmakers to discuss all proposed amendments to the Constitution during a Constituent Assembly and not in committee hearings.
Section 1, Article VII of the Constitution provides that “any amendment to, or revision of, this Constitution may be proposed by: (1) The Congress, upon a vote of three-fourths of all its Members.”
Senators, however, argued that voting should be done separately because the greater number of the House would practically drown out the Senate position.
Despite Arroyo’s stand that both chambers should vote separately when the Con-ass tackles Charter amendments, several senators are wary, saying the Speaker’s stand does not represent the entire chamber and there is nothing that stops certain House members from pushing to have a joint voting, where the senators will certainly be outnumbered.
Trabaho law
Meanwhile, the House Committee on Ways and Means has endorsed for plenary approval the second package of the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Package, since renamed by congressmen as the “Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities” or Trabaho law.
HB 7982, or the proposed Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Reform Act, which is now pending for second reading approval, seeks to modernize the country’s incentives regime and reduce corporate income taxes.
According to Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua of the Lone District of Quirino, the ways and means chairman, the bill contains several features geared toward employment generation.
“It gives new investments outside urban areas an additional two years of incentives. At the same time, it gradually lowers the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent by 2029,” he said.
From the current 30 percent, the bill said the rate of corporate income tax shall now be 28 percent beginning January 1, 2021; 26 percent beginning January 1, 2023; 24 percent beginning January 1, 2025; 22 percent beginning January 1, 2027; and 20 percent beginning January 1, 2029.
The measure, however, provided that the President may advance the scheduled reduction in the corporate income tax when adequate savings are realized from the rationalization of fiscal incentives, as certified by the secretary of finance.
The bill is in line with the President’s priority of reviewing and modernizing the current incentives regime. At the same time, the bill proposes measures that will minimize the impact of moving to a new regime.
For the first two years, the bill retains the current set of incentives. This gives investors enough time to study the new regime and apply for new incentives appropriate to their respective activities.
Moreover, Cua said the new tax reform will be front-loaded in the plenary as it was declared a priority bill of both Arroyo and Duterte.
Islamic banks
The House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries also recently approved an unnumbered bill that aims to provide for the regulation and organization of Islamic banks.
The substitute bill, authored by Speaker Arroyo and Party-list Rep. Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman of Anak Mindanao, aims to fill the financial needs of the underserved Muslim population.
The measure will act as the core of Islamic banking business in accordance with Shari’ah principles.
The bill will have authorization by the Monetary Board, with the discretion to include conventional banks and foreign Islamic banks in the Muslim community.
Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will still regulate and supervise the activities within the proposed Islamic banks.
4Ps
A bill institutionalizing the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and giving the poorest families cash grants of up to a maximum of five years is also nearing approval after the House recently approved it on second reading.
HB 7773 seeks to reduce poverty and promote human capital development in the country by breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty, promoting gender equality, and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education.
The 4Ps is a major antipoverty program of the government that started during the term of then-President Arroyo and was continued by her two successors.
It mandates the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to select qualified households nationwide using a standardized targeting system to conduct a revalidation of the beneficiaries every three years.
The measure also mandates the provision of a lump-sum conditional cash transfer to be received by each qualified household-beneficiary equivalent to P2,200 per month for health/nutrition and education expenses, or the equivalent of P26,400 per qualified household-beneficiary per year.
The bill defines the poor as those households whose income falls below the poverty threshold as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority and who cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic needs of food, health, education, housing and other essential amenities of life.
Under the bill conditionalities of coverage by the program include:
- Children aged 0 to 5 must receive regular preventive health checkups and vaccinations;
- Children aged 1 to 18 must avail of deworming pills twice a year;
- Children aged 3 to 4 must attend day care or preschool classes at least 85 percent of the time;
- Pregnant women must avail themselves of pre- and post-natal care and give birth with the assistance of a skilled or trained health-care professional in a health facility.
The appropriation shall continue until the program has covered 60 percent of the total number of extremely poor households in the country, as may be determined by the Philippine Statistics Authority at the time of the enactment of the Act.
BSP capitalization
The House of Representatives has also endorsed for Senate approval a measure increasing the BSP capitalization from P50 billion to P200 billion.
HB 7742, or “An Act Reinforcing the Corporate Viability of the BSP,” will strengthen the Central Bank’s monetary and financial stability functions and enhance its regulatory powers, amending for the purpose RA 7653, or the New Central Bank Act.
The bill seeks to enhance the administration of the country’s monetary, credit and banking system.
It also aims to strengthen the supervisory, regulatory and examination powers of the BSP. To strengthen the Bangko Sentral’s prudential supervision functions, the bill proposes to expand the entities under its supervision to include other categories of financial institutions, and grant authority to impose sanctions on transfers and acquisitions of substantial shares of banks and quasi-banks without BSP approval.
Besides the additional capitalization, the measure seeks to restore tax-exempt status, especially on its governmental functions.
Earlier, Rep. Ben P. Evardone of the Lone District of Eastern Samar, chairman of the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, said the measure will “help transform the Bangko Sentral into a more effective and dynamic central monetary authority that can keep pace with the demands of its mandate.”
Meanwhile, among other important measures that have been approved on third reading include:
HB 7373, or “An Act Requiring the Planting of Trees for Any Construction of Residential, Commercial, Industrial and Public Buildings.” The measure is an economy-friendly bill, which mandates the planting of trees in every construction projects for residential, commercial, industrial and public buildings.
HB 7437, or “An Act Prohibiting the Privatization and Corporatization of Public Hospitals, Public Health Facilities and Public Health Services, and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof,” prohibits the privatization and corporatization of public hospitals and facilities.
Indeed, she has not been called “Speedy Arroyo” for nothing. Among her first and most significant moves as newly elected Speaker was to meet with the economic managers, “from one professor to another,” and ask for options on how to slay inflation, which has been lashing all sectors and which was being blamed on the first of the tax-reform packages. With the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law getting the brunt of public ire for its higher excise taxes on fuel and sugar-sweetened beverages, among others, it was becoming difficult for lawmakers to endorse any of the succeeding tax reforms of the administration.
It was this kind of initiative—behaving like a “President” while serving as Speaker—that has caused Arroyo to be regarded with both awe and grudging admiration by believers and critics alike. How she will continue to change the political landscape, as she makes her moves in and out of Congress in the months leading to the 2019 elections, is something worth watching.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila