House to ensure quorum with daily roll call

THE HOUSE of Representatives will ensure a quorum on all its session days in the 17th Congress by clamping down on chronic absentees and frequent fliers among its members, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said on Monday.

Fariñas told the Inquirer Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was bent on having a majority of House members present every session day in order to carry out the regular business of Congress.

From now on there will be a roll call at the start of every session from Monday to Wednesday at 4 p.m. to see who is present and who is not of the 292 members of the House. Half the number of members plus one—or 147 representatives—comprise a quorum.

Previously, the House secretary general did not conduct a roll call unless directed to do so by the Speaker or challenged by one of the members on the floor.

Fariñas said he wanted to make calling the roll daily mandatory and that this would also acknowledge the diligence of those present in attending sessions.

“Whenever the roll is not called, those who are present feel prejudiced while those who are absent benefited. Thus, to be just and fair, the roll will be called every session day,” he said.

As for their jet-setting colleagues, Fariñas said Alvarez wants to cut back their trips abroad which result in their absence by having them course their travel requests through a central authority who is the majority leader.

“He has also tasked me to monitor such closely and require every request to travel abroad made by members to pass through me to ensure that the quorum would not suffer by such travels,” Fariñas said.

Aside from poring over the 2017 national budget, House members need to debate the reimposition of the death penalty, make amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, study the grant of emergency traffic powers to President Duterte, discuss the proposed constitutional assembly to make amendments to the Constitution and shift governance to a federal form, among other pressing matters.