Ruffy’s pride of place: First to file House bill

Muntinlupa Rep. Rozanno Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

ONE EARLY bird has beaten all other lawmakers scrambling for the honor of being the first person to file a bill in the 17th Congress, which will start on July 25.

Returning Muntinlupa Rep. Rozanno Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon, a former customs commissioner, was the first to save a spot in what has turned into a long queue to the Bills and Index Service of the House of Representatives.

Chairs, ranging from generic white monobloc ones to office swivel seats, have lined the south wing lobby of the Batasang Pambansa for the past three weeks to reserve their owner’s place in the queue, House officials said.

As of Monday, the line stretched to 82 chairs, each bearing the lawmakers’ names, with Biazon’s at the very front.

“The standing procedure in the filing of bills and resolutions is first-come, first-served. Queuing for the filing of bills is not sanctioned by us,” said Terence Grana, chief of the Indexing and Monitoring Group of the Bills and Index Service.

“It was an arrangement made by the lawmakers’ staff members among themselves,” he said in a statement.

Per House rules, the Bills and Index Service will begin accepting bills and resolutions from individual House members on July 4.

Many lawmakers, however, have already drafted their proposed measures and are only waiting for the opportunity to submit them.

Up to 5 bills each

Based on  an agreement reached by staff members, each lawmaker can submit up to five bills and two resolutions for the initial round of filing, Grana said.

The lawmakers can then file additional measures after the first round, he added.

The group of 82 early filers is a mix of veteran and neophyte lawmakers, including returnees who are seeking to refile measures that did not make it in the 16th Congress due to lack of time.

These include proposals on income tax reform, public order and security, better national and local governance, wage hike, institutionalization of the conditional cash transfer program, better health and other social services.

Biazon is followed on the list by fellow veteran Representatives Reynaldo Umali of Oriental Mindoro, Raul del Mar of Cebu City, Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao City, Alfred Vargas III of Quezon City, Emmeline Aglipay-Villar of Diwa, Kaka Bag-ao of Dinagat Island and Antonio Tinio of Act Teachers.

Newcomers in the queue of early birds include former Sen. Pia Cayetano of Taguig City, Geraldine Roman of Bataan (the country’s first transgender lawmaker) and Rogelio Pacquiao of Sarangani, a brother of boxer and now Sen. Manny Pacquiao.