2018: Rep. Gloria Arroyo is new Speaker.
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives was among the country’s institutions that witnessed the more, if not the most, exhilarating events this year.
But at the heart of the lower chamber’s whirlwind of controversies was the question of whether it undermined democratic accountability inside the august hall and across the country.
For known opposition lawmaker, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate, the chamber, indeed, failed to protect itself from further weakening.
At the closing speech of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before Congress adjourned last Dec. 12, she flaunted the chamber’s success of shepherding the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte to passage. This happened in just five months since July 23 when she sealed her return to power and ended Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez’s two-year grip on the Speakership post.
“My concern is not my legacy as Speaker. My concern is to support President Duterte’s legacy in the year that I have as Speaker,” she said during her speech before the plenary.
“The key words are hard work, selectively hands-on especially in shepherding the 2018 SONA (State of the Nation Address) bills of President Duterte to passage by the House, strict but hopefully fair and open-minded,” she also said.
READ: Arroyo: House has processed 1,361 bills since July
But this came at the expense of “micro-managing” processes and “railroading” controversial measures, including those part of the administration’s comprehensive tax reform program, “without sufficient debates,” according to Zarate.
Draft federal charter
On Dec. 11, the House managed to give its nod to its controversial draft federal Charter barely three months since it was filed on Sept. 19. Before this, the leadership abruptly ended the period of debates on the Resolution of Both Houses of Congress (RBH) No. 15.
READ: Draft federal Charter gets House’s final nod
Principally penned by Arroyo – who had three failed attempts at Charter change during her presidency – the draft charter proposes a presidential-bicameral-federal system of government. It was approved on second reading last Dec. 4, with only three session days allotted for plenary debates, and hounded by a question on lack of quorum.
This also came despite Arroyo’s pronouncement in August that there was not enough time to achieve Duterte’s agenda and campaign promise to shift to a federal form of government.
“The House is still the house of Duterte. His legislative agenda was accomplished for so short a time,” Zarate told INQUIRER.net over a phone interview on Saturday.
While Arroyo and Alvarez had different leadership styles— the former “more hands-on” while the latter “stayed in the shadows of the President”— Zarate said when it comes to democratic processes in the House, the two leaders were the same.
“Niraratsada, wala masyadong debate pagdating sa floor, even on the committee level. Classic example dyan ’yung case ng RBH 15. Nakailang hearing lang ba ’yan sa committee level at makailang araw lang sa plenary,” he noted.
“Just like the previous leadership, they used the tyranny of numbers. In fact, there was no number at all,” he added. “What is very clear now, while Alvarez was just trying to stay in the shadows of Duterte… itong si GMA (Arroyo’s initials) is different. GMA is now trying to project herself or at least ’yung kanilang faction that they are also a center of power.”
Despite this, Arroyo was quick to deny that the chamber, under her leadership, railroaded the draft federal charter.
“It was part of the democratic process, there was a debate, it was voted on,” Arroyo told reporters in an interview.
READ: Arroyo denies House railroading federalism bid
Although the lack of “quality debates” on measures, and approval of such without quorum were severe concerns, Zarate said this was no longer new.
“Noon pa man hanggang ngayon ang umiiral sa Kongreso ay patronage politics,” he said.
Martial law extension
On Dec. 12, Congress— for the third time— approved Duterte’s request to extend martial law in Mindanao for another year.
READ: Congress okays 3rd martial law extension in Mindanao
But martial law was extended to the Joint Session of the Congress, Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman said after the “freedom of expression of senators and representatives was restricted” to three minutes for interpellation and one minute for the explanation of their respective votes.
READ: Opposition hits ‘martial law’ during House deliberations
Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano experienced this firsthand when he tried to explain his negative vote on the extension of martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2019.
The opposition lawmaker – who took part in a coup against Arroyo back in 2003 when she was still President – was cut by Arroyo who said his one minute was up. When he asked to be allowed to finish the last portion of his speech, Arroyo said he only had two seconds.
“Three seconds are up, please submit your explanation in writing,” Arroyo interrupted.
Lagman further warned that the undue restriction “deprives Congress [of] fully deliberating on the merits of the requested extension and amply validate its proffered factual basis.”
Investigations
In a lunch meeting on Nov. 26, Arroyo expressed her opposition against resolutions in aid of legislation, saying no actual bills were being produced from these probes, “only harassment happens.”
The House Makabayan bloc has denounced this, with ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio describing this as a way of disarming the lower House of its power and responsibility to conduct investigations.
The opposition lawmaker also lamented how their bloc had filed numerous resolutions calling for investigations into human rights issues and welfare of various sectors, but most of these are pending before the committee on rules.
Zarate, also a Makabayan bloc member, shared Tinio’s frustration.
“Nasa rules committee lang, natutulog karamihan,” he said.
2019 national budget
Amid issues hounding the proposed P3.757-trillion 2019 national budget, Tinio also criticized the House’s final approval of the general appropriations bill, saying no copies of the third reading version of House Bill No. 8169 were given to House members before it was approved on third reading.
“Bago aprubahan on third reading ano mang bill… kailangan at least three days na hawak ng myembro ‘yung final version ng bill for approval,” Tinio explained earlier.
To comply with the rules, Tinio said Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. moved that the second reading version of the bill be used as the final version, a motion that was immediately approved.
“Absolute lack of transparency ang naganap sa budget process. Kaming mga ordinaryong myembro, hindi namin alam kung ano yung mga amendments na ipapasok ng House lahat ng amendments will happen during the bicam (bicameral conference committee),” Tinio said.
“Absolutely nakatago ito sa publiko until ‘yung final version na lamang ang makikita nating lahat, by then it will be too late,” he lamented.
ACTS Teachers Rep. France Castro and Gabriela Rep. Emmie de Jesus also slammed the lack of transparency, as they expressed fears that the 2019 budget may be used during the 2019 midterm elections.
“The transparency talaga ‘yung nakakalungkot dito sa nagaganap sa 17th Congress,” De Jesus said.
READ: A House leadership-Duterte ‘collusion’ for 2019 ‘reenacted’ budget?
Arroyo ‘wants everything done right away’
But Arroyo’s allies in the chamber plainly saw things in a different light.
Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Estrellita Suansing, chair of the House committee on ways and means, in a statement said Arroyo’s leadership steered the House to accomplish so much in just a short period.
Suansing even recalled how Arroyo closely followed the hearings of her committee on vital tax measures. She said the Speaker was “always on time,” a “workaholic,” “hands-on,” “wants everything done right away and refuses any delay” and “personally monitors every bill because she believes that what is monitored gets effectively done or finished.”
Parañaque 2nd District Rep. Gus Tambunting, chairman of the committee on games and amusements, also lauded Arroyo for staying “true to her word in focusing on the priority bills of President Duterte.”
“In only half a year, the House has done so much under her good leadership, and this is something we can be proud of,” he added.
As said by Arroyo during her closing speech and as shown by data from the rules panel, in just 41 days of the third regular session of the 17th Congress, the House processed a total of 1,426 measures, or an average of 35 measures processed per session day.
But Zarate warned that if institutions, such as the House, failed to do its function of checks and balances against other branches of government as well as enacting well-debated measures, it could be a threat to the people’s “democratic lives.”
“Talagang it’s a threat to our democratic life itong mga institutions na ito if they failed in their duty sa ating democratic system,” he said.
Voters in the coming May 2019 mid-term elections will undoubtedly play a crucial role to ward off threats to democracy from overpowering institutions and from becoming a vicious cycle of patronage politics, Zarate noted.
“Kami talaga sa Bayan Muna at Makabyan naniniwala na malaki ang magiging role ng enlightened critical mass na ma-realize nilang hindi pwedeng business as usual lang,” the progressive lawmaker said.
“Mahalaga na maging mulat ang mga mamamayan sa pagpili ng kanilang kinakatawan sa gobyerno,” he added.
INQUIRER.net has repeatedly reached Arroyo’s camp for additional comments, but they have yet to respond as of posting time./ac
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