AFTER a two week break, Congress is set to resume its session Monday with both chambers outlining their legislative priorities for the rest of the year.
Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III said the Senate’s top priority is the timely passage of the P3.35 trillion national budget for next year and the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte to address the traffic crisis.
The House of Representatives, on the other hand, will prioritize the plenary debates on Charter change, the restoration of the death penalty, emergency powers on traffic and the ratification of the P3.35-trillion national budget.
Pimentel said the Senate plans to pass its version of the budget bill on third and final reading “in the last week of November” to ensure it will be enacted into law before the year ends.
“We will exert our best efforts to timely conduct our hearings and ensure the early passage of this most important piece of legislation,” Pimentel said, referring to the budget, or the General Appropriations Act of 2017.
Earlier, Pimentel said the Senate was closely coordinating with the House of Representatives, which passed its version of the bill last Oct. 17, 2016, to ensure that the budget will be enacted into law as scheduled.
Pimentel said the Senate would also tackle the bill that seeks to grant emergency powers to the President to allow him to address traffic congestion in Metro Manila and other urban areas.
Other pending priority legislation that the Senate will work on include the proposed bill on ending “endo” or labor contractualization, the SIM Card Registration Act, Amendments to the Bank Secrecy Law and the bill adjusting the indexation of income tax rates.
At the same time, Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has already announced his plan to have the death penalty bill approved on third and final reading before Congress goes on Christmas break.
“We have to raise the level of fear, especially among criminals. Death penalty for heinous crimes should be restored because it shows that the criminal justice system has been failing,” said Abu, author of a bill to reimpose death penalty.
“We have a strong House leadership that is committed to support the legislative agenda of President Rody Duterte. We will be persistent in working very hard for the interests of the common people,” Abu said.
“The President needs necessary legislation for him to effect meaningful and genuine change as he promised such as addressing traffic through Traffic Crisis Act and working on federalism to address inequalities,” Abu, also author of separate measures on Cha-Cha and emergency powers, pointed out.
In pushing for Cha-Cha, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said Congress should buckle down to work in convening a Constituent Assembly to propose amendments to the Constitution that would clear the way to federalism, especially now that President Duterte has renewed his pitch to speed up the process that would lead to the shift to this system of government.
Villafuerte noted the Senate and the House of Representatives need to craft new provisions in the Constitution specifying the federal switch in time for a plebiscite that would be held either alongside the midterm elections in 2019 or the 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan synchronized elections at the latest.
“Demonstrating his zeal and determination in establishing federalism in the country, President Duterte has renewed his call for this government switch during last week’s launch of the Comprehensive Reform and Development Agenda for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict affected areas in Mindanao,” Villafuerte said.
The launch was held in Cotabato City.
“Holding the plebiscite along with the elections either in 2019 or 2020 is not only the most economical but also the soonest time we can let the people decide on federalism while giving the Congress ample time to deliberate and fine tune the provisions that would ensure the shift would lead to growth and prosperity in the regions,” said Villafuerte, vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations.
Abu said the House would also prioritize the shift from unitary presidential to federal parliamentary and lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility, among others.
“The House committee on constitutional amendments already recommended constituent assembly as mode of amending the Constitution and we will continue our deliberations on this very important matter,” Abu said.
Alvarez earlier said the House of Representatives will prioritize the following measures: pushing federalism; restore the death penalty for heinous crimes; revert the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years to nine years old to build a culture of responsibility at an early age; emergency powers for the President to act on traffic woes; revise government procurement act; pass the Freedom of Information law covering all branches of government; simplify taxation law to encourage people to pay taxes; require mining companies to secure a legislative franchise before being allowed to operate; revise the labor law and look into the practice of “endo” or end of contract and increase penalties for non-payment of minimum wage; adjust pensions of retirees; allow senior citizens and persons with disabilities to avail of absentee voting during elections; among others.
Before the three-week Halloween break, the House of Representatives approved the P3.35-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on third and final reading.
