Pimentel praises Senate for a productive 75 days

Updated: 10:21 p.m., March 25, 2017

In 75 days the Senate enacted two bills, produced 45 others, and ratified three resolutions.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III boasted of a productive first two and a half months of 2017 and lauded his colleagues for working overtime to fast-track the enactment of laws to improve Filipino lives.

He pointed out that all of the work was done before the first recess of the 17th Congress.

“We have been making the most out of our time to fulfill our mandate and push for measures that will lay the basis for the development and progress of our country and people,” he said.

Pimentel pointed out that once Congress resumes its session in May the highest priority would be given on the push for federalism.

“We will continue to push for the legislative mechanism which will start the process of shifting to a federal government in order to bring solutions to some of the country’s most long-standing ills and problems,” he said.

Among bills that Senate passed into law are those extending for 25 years the franchises of GMA Network Inc. and Smart Communications Inc.

Those approved on third reading, to be forwarded to the House of Representatives for concurrence, include proposed acts on free internet access in public places, free higher education for all, expanded maternity leave, and the reorganization of the Philippine National Police.

Approved on second reading at the plenary level are amendments to the Revised Penal Code, the Mental Health Act of 2017, and the Philippine Innovation Act.

Thirty bills are in an advanced stage at the plenary level, including the following:

• Teachers’ Supply Allowance Act of 2016
• Omnibus Election Code
• People’s Freedom of Information Act of 2016
• Expanded Anti-Wire Tapping Act of 2016
• Anti-Money Laundering Act
• Anti-Discrimination Act
• Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act
• Philippine Boxing Commission Act of 2017
• the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act of 2017
• a bill increasing the salary of government doctors
• a bill concerning the refusal of hospitals to accept a patient in emergency cases

Two bills due for sponsorship are the Philippine Passport Act and the Mandatory Philippine Health Corporation coverage for persons with disability.

The adopted resolutions include one expressing concurrence in the accession to the Paris Agreement, the agreement between Japan and the Philippines on social security, and the articles of agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

House output

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives have approved 82 bills on third and final reading since 2016.

Of this number, 22 are national in scope, including House Bill 4727, which proposes to reinstate the death penalty for drug-related offenses.

Specifically, the bill would want to impose the death penalty on the importation of dangerous drugs; sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution, and transportation of dangerous drugs; maintenance of a den, dive, or resort where any dangerous drug is used or sold; the manufacture of dangerous drugs; and possession of at least 10 grams of dangerous drugs.

Among bills produced by the House that have been enacted into law are the postponement of the Sangguniang Kabataan elections in 2016 and the 2017 General Appropriations Act, which set the 2017 national budget at P3.35 trillion. /atm