THE House of Representatives and the Senate always play crucial roles in the government through the passage of laws needed to improve the quality of life of Filipinos.
According to the 1987 Constitution, legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
According to Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, the mission of the 17th Congress is clear: to enact laws that will deliver to the nation and its people a better future. Alvarez also assured the passage of necessary legislations that will give tools to President Duterte to effect meaningful and genuine change.
Earlier, the House Committee on Rules has reported that of the 7,975 measures filed, 1,810 were processed during the 130 session days. This equates to an average of 14 measures per session day.
Of the total number of measures filed, 6,549 are bills and 1,426 are resolutions. Moreover, a total of 420 committee reports were submitted for plenary deliberations by various House committees.
These measures seek to address the priority concerns of lawmakers, such as poverty eradication, public safety and order, justice, gender equality, health, education, protection of women, children and elderly, environmental protection and the rights of indigenous peoples, among others.
Easier process
SINCE the Second Regular Session opened on July 24, seven important bills were already enacted into law. These form part of the 30 measures passed into law this 17th Congress.
Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte said passing a measure is now easier as they have identified their agenda during the meetings of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) and the regular meetings of Congress’s leadership.
With these meetings, Fariñas said members of the 17th Congress know what measures should be prioritized in the committee and in the plenary on a target date. While some of these identified priority measures already secured final approval in the House of Representatives before Congress went on a break on October 14, several bills are still under debates before their respective committee, as well as in the plenary.
Agricultural tariffication
THE priority measures that are pending in the committee and plenary levels include the Amendment to Republic Act (RA) 8178, or the Agricultural Tariffication Act.
Amending RA 8178 is needed to scrap quantitative restrictions (QRs) and convert these into tariffs. Both are pending before the agriculture committee of the two chambers.
The technical working group (TWG) of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food has recently approved the substitute bill that would amend RA 8178, the law that enabled the Philippines to impose a rice QR beginning 1996.
Under the substitute bill, the Philippines will impose a 400-percent bound tariff on its rice once the QR on the staple is abolished.
“In lieu of the QR on rice, the maximum bound rate shall be as notified by the Philippines to the [World Trade Organization],” the substitute bill read.
Once the substitute bill is enacted into law, the country’s minimum access volume (MAV) for rice shall revert to its 2012 level at 350,000 metric tons (MT), from the current 805,000 (MT).
“Upon the effectivity of this act, the minimum access volume will revert to its 2012 level at 350,000 metric tons as indicated in the Philippines’ commitment to the World Trade Organization [WTO],” the substitute bill read.
Under the bill, the Philippines will impose a bound tariff rate of 35 percent for rice originating from the Asean region, regardless of its volume.
The measure said it shall impose a 40-percent bound tariff most-favored nation (MFN) rate for in-quota importation of rice from non-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) WTO member-countries. A 400-percent bound tariff MFN rate shall apply for rice imports outside the 350,000-MT MAV sourced from non-Asean WTO member-countries.
House Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairman Party-list Rep. Jose T. Panganiban Jr. of Anac-IP said they plan to approve the bill on third and final reading before the year ends.
Procurement reform
ANOTHER priority legislation is the amendment to the Government Procurement Reform Act.
Under the proposal, negotiated procurement will be allowed “before, during, or after a calamity.” Currently, negotiated procurement is only applicable during a state of calamity.
The bill is pending before the upper and lower chambers’ respective committee.
However, Fariñas said the Ledac has agreed to just amend the implementing rules and regulations of the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184).
“We agreed that the Government Procurement Policy Board [GPPB] created under RA 9184 will first determine if the amendments sought may be carried out by the GPPB through its implementing rules andregulations,” Fariñas added.
If not, he said the procurement policy board will inform Congress of the amendments that need to be legislated upon.
Traffic decongestion
TRAFFIC congestion has become a priority as a Proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act has been filed in Congress.
Last year Duterte asked Congress to grant him emergency power to address the immense and growing traffic dilemma in the National Capital Region and major cities in the country.
House Bill (HB) 4334, or the proposed “Traffic Crisis Act of 2016: Maki-isa, Makisama, Magka-isa” was already approved by the House Committee on Transportation. However, the measure is still pending before the House plenary deliberations.
The bill was authored by House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez, Majority Leader Rodolfo C. Fariñas and Transportation Committee Chairman Rep. Cesar V. Sarmiento of Catanduanes.
One of the salient features of HB 4334 is Section 5 (Reorganization and Covered Agencies), which names the Department of Transportation (DOTr) secretary as de officio traffic chief during the effectivity of the Act with full power and authority as enumerated in the Act to streamline the management of traffic and transportation and control road use in the identified metropolitan areas.
The traffic chief shall have the power of supervision and control over the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Cebu Coordinating Council, as created under Section 9 of the Act, Philippine National Police-Traffic Management Group, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board, Road Board and all other executive agencies, bureaus and offices with roles pertaining to land-transportation regulation. The traffic chief shall also have power of supervision and control over the Davao Traffic Administrator. The traffic chief, as alter ego of the President, shall also have power of supervision over all local government units (LGUs) within the metropolitan areas.
The traffic chief shall formulate, coordinate, and monitor policies, standards, programs and projects to rationalize existing public transport operations, infrastructure requirements, the use of thoroughfares, safe movement of persons and goods, the administration and implementation of all traffic enforcement operations, traffic engineering services, and traffic education programs.
‘Endo’ bill
DUTERTE has also stirred the employers’ hornet’s nest by pushing for the end of the “end of contract” (endo). Pending in Congress is the legislation for an Anti-contractualization Act.
There are several pending bills in both houses seeking to end labor contractualization in the country. Ending contractualization is one of the campaign promises of the President.
One of these bills is HB 916 of Party-list Rep. Harry Roque of Kabayan. Roque said his proposal gives contractual employees the right in principle not to be treated less favorably than permanent employees of the same employee doing similar work.
Another measure is HB 1208 of Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna. According Zarate, the end-of-contract policy blatantly violates the worker’s right to security of tenure.
“It is a constitutional mandated policy for the state to assure the right of workers to self-organization, collective bargaining, security of tenure and just humane conditions of work,” Zarate added.
Zarate, citing studies, added contractualization is extensive in the Philippines with 7 out of 10 firms implementing combinations of flexible work arrangements. He also cited estimates showing that contractuals now outnumber regulars among Filipino workers.
“With this reality, the state must determinedly protect and uphold workers’ rights to decent and long-term employment by upholding their right to security of tenure, declaring illegal all forms of contractual employment and penalizing those who will carry out this anti-worker scheme,” Zarate added.
These measures are still pending before the House Committee on Labor and Employment.
Doing business
PROPOSED also as a priority is the Ease of Doing Business Act. Lawmakers said the measure will promote the country as a business-friendly economy.
House Committee on Trade and Industry Chairman Ferjenel Biron of the Fourth District of Iloilo said the bill would simplify issuances of licenses, clearances or permits to business entities.
“The purpose of this bill is to provide an easy, simple, straightforward and trouble-free avenue for entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium businesses and ordinary citizens who would like to venture into business in the country,” Biron said.
With its 12th-largest population and the 43rd-largest economy in the world, Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, the panel vice chairman and one of the authors of the bill, said the Philippines ranked as the second-most favored destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) in Southeast Asia.
However, Villafuerte said the Philippines’s rank in ease of doing business is one of the lowest in the world, at 171st out of 185 countries this year.
For example, he added, dealing with construction permits still takes 24 procedures. This is just to build a basic physical establishment. Compare this to East Asia and the Pacific’s average of 15 procedures, Villafuerte said.
“Worse, it takes 16 procedures and 28 days to start a business compared to the region’s average of seven procedures and 23 days,” he added.
Under the substitute bill, the Ease of Doing Business Commission shall be created to continue review and repeal of existing executive issuances and recommend the repeal of existing laws and local ordinances that are outdated, redundant and adds undue regulatory burdens to business entities.
The commission shall be composed of a chairman, the secretary of trade and finance secretary as ex-officio members. There would also be one private-sector representative each for the micro, small and medium enterprises and large industry sectors.
Special types
THE ease-of-doing-business bill also said all national government agencies and LGUs issuing licenses, clearances or permits to business entities shall post a comprehensive checklist requirement for every type of license, clearance or permit to be issued.
A uniform checklist of requirements required by licensing and permitting offices issuing a similar license, clearance or permit shall be established when applicable. It added the checklist of requirements, step-by-step procedure and schedule of fees for the issuance of a license, clearance or permit shall be conspicuously posted in, among others, the premises of national and local government licensing and permitting agencies, the business one-stop shop or in designated public places.
The bill said the prescribed processing time shall in no case be longer than one working day for barangay governments, three working days for simple applications and 10 working days for complex applications from the time of receipt of the application.
Meanwhile, for special types of business that require clearances, accreditation or licenses issued by government agencies, including regulatory agencies as provided for by law, where technical evaluation or such necessary condition is required in the processing of licenses, clearance or permits, the prescribed processing time shall in no cases be longer than 30 working days or as determined by the government agency or instrumentality concerned, whichever is shorter.
Provided, that where the prescribed processing time is fixed by special laws, the time prescribed by such laws shall apply.
The bill is currently pending before plenary deliberations.
Land conversion
ANOTHER priority is an Act prohibiting conversion of irrigated lands. In May Alvarez filed HB 5501, prohibiting the acceptance, processing and approval of applications for land-use conversion of agricultural lands, irrigated lands and irrigable lands to non-agricultural purposes.
Alvarez said the World Food Summit in 1996 defined food security as the state, “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy lifestyle.”
To achieve this goal, Alvarez said it is indispensable that sufficient land resources are protected and available in order to produce sufficient food for the nation.
One of the legal instruments designed to achieve food security is RA 6675, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, he added. With this program, Alvarez said farmers are expected to own land which they can till to uplift their socioeconomic status while providing adequate food for Filipinos.
However, the house speaker said the same law allows for the reclassification or conversion of agricultural land and its disposition, should the land cease to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes after the lapse of five years. Also, if the same has become more urbanized and will be more economically valuable for residential, commercial and industrial purposes.
“As a result, prime agricultural lands, as well as irrigated or irrigable lands, have been adversely affected by rampant and unchecked conversions,” Alvarez said. “This has led to a distributing threat not only against our country’s food security, but to the whole agrarian-reform program, as well.”
To ensure food security and to promote social justice, the speaker said he is pushing for the passage of HB 5501 to protect the remaining prime agricultural lands and irrigated and irrigable lands, while maintaining and strengthening the level of food security.
Alvarez’s bill is now under deliberation of the House Committee on Agrarian Reform.
Fair elections
AN Amendment to Fair Election Act has also been flagged as a priority bill.
Fariñas, author of HB 4898, said his proposal seeks to regulate the rates of and increase the discount charged by media outlets to political parties and bona fide candidates for political propaganda advertisements during the election period.
Currently, the majority leader said RA 9006, or the Fair Elections Act, mandated media outlets to charge political propaganda advertisements a discounted rate of 30 percent for television, 20 percent for radio and 10 percent for print over the average rates charged during the first three quarters of the calendar year preceding the elections.
In order to offset the losses from the discounts granted under the said law, Fariñas said some media outlets circumvented the provision on discounts by increasing the rates charged for political advertisements by almost 100 percent.
“This practice by certain media outlets proved too cumbersome for most candidates who have meager campaign resources to avail themselves of political advertisement in television, radio and print media,” he said.
As evident during past elections, Fariñas added that the political parties and bona fide candidates who have scarce resources to fun the exorbitant costs of media advertisements tend to seek for contributors to sponsor their advertisement and to whom they will be indebted to for the duration of their term of office.
“This could provide an avenue for political corruption, wherein politicians would be making decisions benefiting their sponsors while foregoing the interests of the public,” he added.
According to Fariñas, the passage of his bill will provide equal opportunity among qualified political candidates to avail themselves of affordable political advertisements through the tri-media, such as print, radio and television.
Fariñas’s proposal is still pending before the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.
Anti-hazing
AMID the accusations leveled against Aegis Juris, an act strengthening RA 8049, or the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995, is cited as a priority. This is where HB 3467 comes in.
This measure seeks to prohibit all forms of hazing and regulate the initiation rites of fraternities, sororities and other organizations.
According to Party-list Rep. Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon, author of the bill, hazing has been, and continues to present, a serious problem in the Philippine and in other countries in the world, including Indonesia, Russia, India and the United States.
She said the government should act to correct such ubiquitous and institutionalized activity as hazing has become.
Herrera-Dy’s bill makes all hazing illegal, instead of just regulating hazing, with penalties ranging from fines to life imprisonment, depending on the seriousness of the hazing incident. The bill also makes any crime committed by the victim as a result of the hazing attached to the perpetrator. Important, the bill also expands the definition of hazing beyond just incidences related to gaining membership in an organization.
The bill also expands the definition of hazing to cover psychological injuries in addition to physical suffering, as well as beyond just incidences related to gaining membership in an organization. The measure is now pending before the House plenary.
Disaster response
LAWMAKERS are eyeing the formation of a Department of Disaster Response. Rep. Doy C. Leachon of the First District of Oriental Mindoro, principal author of the bill creating the new agency, said the bill recognizes the Philippines as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
During the past decades, he said the country has endured from deadly typhoons, storm surge, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural disasters.
Leachon said every year approximately 80 typhoons develop above tropical waters, of which 19 enter the Philippine region and six to nine make landfall.
“These calamities [have] caused severe damaged not only to our country’s infrastructure but, worst, had also killed thousands of countrymen.”
With this, Leachon said an independent and separate department that will solely focus on preparing, responding, preventing, mitigating the aftermath of these calamities and restoring the livelihood, facilities and among others of the affected communities is of paramount necessity.
He added establishing a new and independent department will avoid the tedious process in responding to these calamities. He said the preparation and response relating to national disaster control will be more effective and more responsive in the country.
Leachon’s bill is still pending before the House Committee on National Defense.
Town doctor
IN the lower chamber, there are three bills providing medical scholarship to qualified students in all municipalities establishing for the purpose the one town: one doctor scholarship.
One of these measures is authored by Rep. Vilma Santos-Recto of the Sixth District of Batangas.
According to the lady lawmaker, there are only 70,000 doctors for 100 million Filipinos in the Philippines.
“It is even worst in the rural areas, where there are just about 3 public doctors for every 100,000 population,” Santos-Recto said.
The lawmaker said the obstacles faced by health-care providers and patients in rural areas are vastly different from those in urban areas, saying people there face a unique combination of factors that create inadequacies in health care not found in urban areas.
“Economic factors, cultural and social differences, education shortcomings, and the sheer isolation of living in remote rural areas all conspire to impede the people in their struggle to lead a normal healthy life,” she said. “Medical doctors are more enticed to practice in cities than in rural communities, causing misdistribution of medical doctors and other allied-medical professionals in the country. Hospitals in rural areas, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao face crises and even imminent closure because of lack of medical doctors.”
Santos-Recto explained that doctors are the drivers of the health-care system. The system can fail if there is a shortage of doctors, she added.
She attributed the shortage of doctors to the migration of healthcare professionals to other professions and the high cost of medical studies beyond the reach of most Filipino families. Santos-Recto also blamed urban migration or the transfer of most doctors to urban areas where technology and money are present. She also noted the exodus of doctors to other countries for further training or experience and for better pay as a reason for the shortage.
The lawmaker said her bill provides solution to address the medical manpower crisis through a state-sponsored scholarship program for those qualified students to become doctors.
The proposed One Town: One Doctor Act is still pending in the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.
Family Code
ALVAREZ has also filed HB 5268 to prevent bitter property feuds between estranged couples.
In his proposal, Alvarez seeks to amend Article 75 of Title IV of the Family Code mandating that in the absence of a marriage settlement—better known as a “pre-nuptial agreement”—all properties brought into the marriage, including those acquired during the period, shall be governed by the system of absolute community or co-owned by the couple in equal shares.
Alvarez said that, while at first glance, the provision of the law seems to be a testament to the integrity of the Filipino family, it does not address the complicated realities facing marriages or relationships on the rocks.
To address these problems, the bill proposes to replace the regime of absolute community with that of total separation of property.
“This system provides that each spouse shall own, dispose of, possess, administer and enjoy his and her own property, without need for consent of the other,” Alvarez said. “Additionally, separate earnings shall be owned by each spouse separately.”
The bill seeking proposed amendments to the Family Code of the Philippines retains the provision of the Code allowing future couples to enter into a marriage settlement for a “regime of absolute community, conjugal partnership of gains, complete separation of property or any other regime.”
The proposed amendment provides: “In the absence of a marriage settlement, or when the regime agreed upon is void, the regime of total separation of property as established in this Code shall govern.”
Likewise, the same system applies to the property regimes of unions without marriage or under a void marriage. Under Article 147 of the Family Code, the salaries and wages of such couple are co-owned in equal shares.
The proposal is still pending before the House Committee on Revision of Laws.
Image credits: AP Photo/Aaron Favila