Senate not in crisis, says Drilon

MANILA, Philippines — “The Senate is not in crisis,” said Senate President Franklin Drilon as more members of the chamber, including him, have been dragged   into the “pork barrel” scandal.

“There may be some problems of the individual members but the Senate as an institution remains strong,” Drilon said during the regular “Kapihan sa Senado” on Thursday.

He reiterated that the Senate will not collapse, contrary to assertions by some people.

“The Senate is different from the people who compose it. Politicians come and go, senators come and go. But the Senate will remain as an institution of democracy, an institution that’s part of our democratic government,” the Senate leader stressed.

Drilon also dismissed fears that the “pork barrel” scam  may also result to a political  crisis.

“No, no, no,” he said, when asked if the controversy, if not handled properly, would result to a political crisis.

“This pork barrel scam is basically an issue of a violation of the Anti-Graft Act. There’s no political issue involved. Let me make that clear.”

“This is not politics. This is the implementation of the Anti-Graft Law therefore it’s a matter of upholding the law. And I’m very confident that our judicial system will properly address and respond to this allegation of pork barrel scam,” he said in a mix of Filipino and English.

And while faced with this controversy, Drilon assured that the Senate remained on track in its commitment to enact measures that are needed by the people.

“Despite the issues facing certain senators, we have remained focused on our legislative work so as not to derail the approval of important measures that we are deeply committed to pass for the benefit of our people,” he said in a separate statement.

He said records would show that the Senate of the 16th Congress has outpaced its own legislative output in the previous Congress.

During the first regular session of  the 16th Congress, Drilon said, the Senate enacted five measures into law, approved  six bills on second reading, and ratified three treaties compared  to only two measures that were enacted into law, five bills approved on second and third reading, and one treaty ratified during the same period in the 15th Congress.

And before Congress adjourns its sessions next month, Drilon said the Senate  hopes to pass  16 priority bills, including the national student loan program, an open high school system for out of school youth, and the “Iskolar Ng Bayan Act.”

“We believe that the way to recover our people’s trust, regain and strengthen our people’s trust in our institution is to continuously work on these measures,” he further said.

 Originally posted at 01:33 pm | Thursday, May 15, 2014

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