MANILA, Philippines—Two lawmakers under hospital arrest were, for obvious reasons, the top absentees in the House of Representatives: former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo.
Attendance records posted on the House website (congress.gov.ph) showed that Arroyo was “present” in 22 of the 69 session days in the first regular session of the 16th Congress, which covered the period from July 22, 2013 to June 11, 2014.
Arroyo, 67, however, has not set foot in the House since her reelection.
She has been detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City since October 2012 in connection with a plunder complaint involving the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office funds.
Sought for an explanation, House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap, whose office consolidates the attendance numbers for posting, said it was a case of wrong entry.
“The 22 is the number of days without a roll call,” she said, meaning all House members were considered present when the roll was not called. The numbers were being corrected at press time.
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Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
he attendance records also showed that Dimaporo was only present for 27 days.
The congressman is confined at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City under hospital arrest since August on charges of malversation over the alleged fictitious purchase and delivery of P5 million worth of fertilizer through a nongovernment organization in 2004.
That transaction was one of the ghost projects in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam through which public funds were allegedly channeled to Arroyo’s presidential campaign in 2004.
Boxing superstar and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao also figured among the top absentees, with an attendance of 38, but eight of his absences were due to “constituency work,” and only one was without notice, based on the records.
He had two boxing matches during the period in question, against Brandon Rios in November, and against Timothy Bradley in April, but the fights, which he both won, were on a weekend.
Negros Occidental Rep. Julio Ledesma IV attended only 32 session days, but 17 of his absences were due to “constituency work,” while he posted 20 absences without notice.
In the 15th Congress, Ledesma was also among the top absentees, having attended only 60 out of 168 session days.
The House holds just three session days in a week
The other representatives who topped the list of absences without notice were Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap with 27, Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez and Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman, both with 22.
Only 68 representatives, or less than a quarter of the 290-strong House, posted a perfect attendance record of 69 days present, among them Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., Majority Floor Leader Neptali Gonzales II, and Deputy Speakers Carlos Padilla, Sergio Apostol and Roberto Puno.
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