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Committee selections
I asked the Minority Leader to deputize me as member of these committees: Basic Education and Culture, Higher and Technical Education, Good Government and Public Accountability, Information and Communications Technology, Youth and Sports Development, Constitutional Amendments, Public Information, and Dangerous Drugs.
My preferred secondary committees: Human Rights, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, The Welfare of Children, and the Special Committee on Millennium Development Goals.
I think we can save money by rationalizing the House committees. For example the Government Enterprises and Privatization Committee can be merged with the Government Reorganization Committee. We only need one education committee to address the needs of the education system. Why separate the committees on Ecology and Natural Resources? (We even have a Special Committee on Reforestation). We should combine the Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Committees.
Some committees reflect the dominant ideology in government. The Committee of Government Enterprises and Privatization is very ideological – it assumes that privatization of government enterprises is an objective and economic necessity. This shows the influential role of the neoliberal school of thought in shaping the policies of the government. If we propose the establishment of a Committee on Nationalization or National Industrialization, most likely it would be rejected for espousing an ideological program.
I also observed that some of the committees reveal the shortcomings of the government. It isn’t enough that we have Mindanao solons - the House has instituted a Committee on Mindanao Affairs. Participatory governance remains a dream that is why we have a Committee on People’s Participation. The Economic Affairs Committee deals with economic development planning but it seems it is not exclusively concerned with solving poverty in the country because there is a separate Committee on Poverty Alleviation. Are we content with establishing committees on issues which we cannot solve?
Quorum
Last Tuesday Rep. Caloy Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya raised an important point in the plenary: lack of quorum in the House. This is an old issue but the Nograles leadership has claimed that the attendance of House members has improved in the past year. Padilla expressed his disappointment that House sessions do not start on time (4pm) because many members are late in entering the plenary. If members cannot attend sessions on time, Padilla proposed to amend the rules so that the Lower Congress can start its sessions at 5pm or 6pm.
Rep. Salvador Escudero of Sorsogon noted that it takes more than an hour to finish the roll call. (What a waste of time!). He has an interesting suggestion: redefine the meaning of quorum. Instead of the standard 50 percent + 1, Escudero wanted quorum to mean 50 + 1 so that there will always be a quorum in the House.
Minority Leader Ronnie Zamora also participated in the discussion by inquiring about the electronic biometric system proposed by former Speaker Jose De Venecia. This would have allowed the House secretariat to quickly determine the number of solons present in the plenary. I was surprised by the reply of the Majority Leader. He said the e-voting test failed. Rep. Antonio Cerilles was flabbergasted as well. He asked, “Why did we pay for something we didn’t test?”
Oo nga naman. Sayang wala si Speaker De Venecia nung Martes.
Voting
The House approved a few bills on Third Reading this week. I abstained during the voting for HB 5241 - "The Investments and Incentives Code of the Philippines." I explained that I have not yet read the bill. However I voted for the approval of the following bills since they have clear and noble objectives:
HB 263 - "An Act to strengthen and propagate foster care for abandoned and neglected children and other children with special needs,”
HB 6052 - "An Act requiring all registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured to appear before the election officer of their place of registration for purposes of having their photographs, fingerprints and signatures captured through the method of biometrics, for purposes of ensuring that the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) can be utilized to cleanse the records of double or multiple registrants,"
HB 6096 - "An Act requiring all government offices to ensure the release of the retirement benefits of its employees within fifteen days from retirement,"
HB 6076 - "An Act expanding the promotion of breastfeeding, amending for the purpose R.A. 7600, otherwise known as ‘An Act providing incentives to all government and private health institutions with rooming-in and breastfeeding practices and for other purposes,"
Non-automation
I was disturbed by the privilege speech of Rep. Pablo Garcia. He was questioning the constitutionality and legality of automating the 2010 polls. He also doubts the capability of the Commission on Elections to supervise the automation. He warns that the system may break down and we would be unable to elect and proclaim a new President next year.
He sent a letter to Comelec (the letter was also signed by other members of the House) reminding the poll body that Congress has yet to pass a special law that would allow the automation of the polls next year. Garcia enumerated several provisions of the law which mandate a manual system of voting, manual preparation of election returns, and manual transmission of votes. He adds that mixed automation may be possible: manual voting for the local polls, automation for national elections. During the interpellation, Garcia said automation is possible only in the transmission of votes; but not during voting.
In sum, Garcia said the “window of maneuverability is short” for poll automation. It seems that a fully automated election system will not take place next year.
Other matters
I endorsed the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The petitioners mentioned in the complaint that the Ombudsman and her classmate, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, flunked the bar exam when they first took it in 1973. (Wala lang, natawa lang ako.)
What constitutes a quorum during committee hearings? Watch the YouTube clip showing the debate between Rep. Goilez and Rep. Datumanong.
My preferred secondary committees: Human Rights, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, The Welfare of Children, and the Special Committee on Millennium Development Goals.
I think we can save money by rationalizing the House committees. For example the Government Enterprises and Privatization Committee can be merged with the Government Reorganization Committee. We only need one education committee to address the needs of the education system. Why separate the committees on Ecology and Natural Resources? (We even have a Special Committee on Reforestation). We should combine the Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Committees.
Some committees reflect the dominant ideology in government. The Committee of Government Enterprises and Privatization is very ideological – it assumes that privatization of government enterprises is an objective and economic necessity. This shows the influential role of the neoliberal school of thought in shaping the policies of the government. If we propose the establishment of a Committee on Nationalization or National Industrialization, most likely it would be rejected for espousing an ideological program.
I also observed that some of the committees reveal the shortcomings of the government. It isn’t enough that we have Mindanao solons - the House has instituted a Committee on Mindanao Affairs. Participatory governance remains a dream that is why we have a Committee on People’s Participation. The Economic Affairs Committee deals with economic development planning but it seems it is not exclusively concerned with solving poverty in the country because there is a separate Committee on Poverty Alleviation. Are we content with establishing committees on issues which we cannot solve?
Quorum
Last Tuesday Rep. Caloy Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya raised an important point in the plenary: lack of quorum in the House. This is an old issue but the Nograles leadership has claimed that the attendance of House members has improved in the past year. Padilla expressed his disappointment that House sessions do not start on time (4pm) because many members are late in entering the plenary. If members cannot attend sessions on time, Padilla proposed to amend the rules so that the Lower Congress can start its sessions at 5pm or 6pm.
Rep. Salvador Escudero of Sorsogon noted that it takes more than an hour to finish the roll call. (What a waste of time!). He has an interesting suggestion: redefine the meaning of quorum. Instead of the standard 50 percent + 1, Escudero wanted quorum to mean 50 + 1 so that there will always be a quorum in the House.
Minority Leader Ronnie Zamora also participated in the discussion by inquiring about the electronic biometric system proposed by former Speaker Jose De Venecia. This would have allowed the House secretariat to quickly determine the number of solons present in the plenary. I was surprised by the reply of the Majority Leader. He said the e-voting test failed. Rep. Antonio Cerilles was flabbergasted as well. He asked, “Why did we pay for something we didn’t test?”
Oo nga naman. Sayang wala si Speaker De Venecia nung Martes.
Voting
The House approved a few bills on Third Reading this week. I abstained during the voting for HB 5241 - "The Investments and Incentives Code of the Philippines." I explained that I have not yet read the bill. However I voted for the approval of the following bills since they have clear and noble objectives:
HB 263 - "An Act to strengthen and propagate foster care for abandoned and neglected children and other children with special needs,”
HB 6052 - "An Act requiring all registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured to appear before the election officer of their place of registration for purposes of having their photographs, fingerprints and signatures captured through the method of biometrics, for purposes of ensuring that the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) can be utilized to cleanse the records of double or multiple registrants,"
HB 6096 - "An Act requiring all government offices to ensure the release of the retirement benefits of its employees within fifteen days from retirement,"
HB 6076 - "An Act expanding the promotion of breastfeeding, amending for the purpose R.A. 7600, otherwise known as ‘An Act providing incentives to all government and private health institutions with rooming-in and breastfeeding practices and for other purposes,"
Non-automation
I was disturbed by the privilege speech of Rep. Pablo Garcia. He was questioning the constitutionality and legality of automating the 2010 polls. He also doubts the capability of the Commission on Elections to supervise the automation. He warns that the system may break down and we would be unable to elect and proclaim a new President next year.
He sent a letter to Comelec (the letter was also signed by other members of the House) reminding the poll body that Congress has yet to pass a special law that would allow the automation of the polls next year. Garcia enumerated several provisions of the law which mandate a manual system of voting, manual preparation of election returns, and manual transmission of votes. He adds that mixed automation may be possible: manual voting for the local polls, automation for national elections. During the interpellation, Garcia said automation is possible only in the transmission of votes; but not during voting.
In sum, Garcia said the “window of maneuverability is short” for poll automation. It seems that a fully automated election system will not take place next year.
Other matters
I endorsed the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez. The petitioners mentioned in the complaint that the Ombudsman and her classmate, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, flunked the bar exam when they first took it in 1973. (Wala lang, natawa lang ako.)
What constitutes a quorum during committee hearings? Watch the YouTube clip showing the debate between Rep. Goilez and Rep. Datumanong.
posted by: mongpalatino at May 07, 2009 15:07 |
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