The Senate ended a marathon 10-hour plenary session very early Thursday, approving the poll automation budget and ratifying bicameral conference reports on measures designed to deal with the global economic crisis.

The chamber then adjourned for a month-long Lenten break, and will return on April 13.

With 13 senators still present at midnight Wednesday, the chamber ratified amendments to the charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), which doubles the maximum insurance coverage for bank deposits from P250,000 to P500,000.

The Senate also ratified the tourism bill of Sen. Richard Gordon and the Magna Carta of Women vigorously pushed by Sen. Jamby Madrigal and which seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.

Bicam report

Sen. Edgardo Angara, who delivered the bicam report on PDIC bill which he sponsored, said the amended Republic Act No. 3591, if enacted, would promote enhanced depositor protection, depositor confidence and a stronger banking system.

?Financial reforms must be sustained in order to cushion the perceived impacts of the global financial turbulence. Our purpose is to allay fears of the investing public and to restore confidence in the Philippine banking system and the Philippine economy,? said Angara.

Angara, who chairs the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies, said the measure would ?institute protective or remedial measures? to ensure that the financial market would be resilient enough to weather the crisis.

Boosting tourism

The Tourism Act of 2009 bill is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2213 and House Bill No. 5229, declaring a national policy for tourism as an engine of investment, employment, growth and national development.

?This measure will definitely boost domestic tourism as it will provide the needed infrastructures to reinvigorate local productivity. An increased productivity means more jobs for the people and more revenues for the government,? said Gordon, the bill?s principal author.

Gordon, a former tourism secretary, said the measure would grant incentives to tourism industry players, generate more jobs and increase revenues of local government units.

He said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to sign the bill into law during the Lenten break.

He said the measure, which seeks the establishment of ?tourism enterprise zones? in strategic areas in the country to lure foreign investors and tourists to visit places rich with history and culture, would help mitigate the ill effects of the global financial crisis on the country?s economy.

Gordon explained that tourism was the fastest and most efficient way of generating foreign exchange, investments and employment. Once the measure is signed into law, it will spur the creation of jobs and open additional channels for the infusion of the much-needed investments, he said.

Magna Carta for Women

On the Magna Carta of Women, Madrigal explained that the bill was called magna carta because of its ?great significance.?

She said measure ?aims to legislate a bill of rights for women as a means of re-affirming the state?s commitment to the participation and empowerment of women in all aspects of the family, society and government.?

Madrigal said that the measure would require the review and, if necessary, the amendment or repeal of laws that are discriminatory to women within a specified period.

As an example of discriminatory provisions against women, Madrigal said that under the Revised Penal Code, adultery can only be committed by a married woman, and that ?a prostitute can only be a woman.?

Under the Family Code, in case of disagreement between the spouses regarding the administration of their conjugal property, the husband?s decision shall prevail, she said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Senate president pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada alternated presiding at the marathon session.