House invites students in bill drafting contest

MARCH 1, 2017
The House of Representatives during the 2nd reading of the controversial death penalty bill.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC

The House of Representatives has launched its bill drafting competition where college students are invited to compete against each other in the drafting of a national legislation.

Students from different colleges and universities attended a seminar at the lower House last week to learn the steps in the drafting of a House Bill that would soon get enacted in a law, according to a statement sent to media Tuesday.

The legislation contest opened with a pre-orientation seminar headed by the chamber.

The 40 teams who attended the bill drafting seminar are from Arellano University, Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), De La Salle University (DLSU) Manila, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, University of Caloocan, UP-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG), Malayan Colleges Laguna, Mindanao State University -Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, San Beda College, UP Los Baños (UPLB), UP – Manila, University of Santo Tomas (UST), Bulacan State University (BulSU) Main, Immaculate Concepcion I – College of Arts and Technology, and Urdaneta City University.

“This is the first time that this will happen in the House of Representatives and we are really very happy that you took the time to participate,” Atty. Darren De Jesus, Head Executive Assistant of the Office of the Speaker, said in his opening remarks.

Atty. Renato Camelon III of the House Reference and Research Bureau headed the seminar and explained the mechanics, form and style of bill drafting.

The Bill Drafting Contest aims to involve the youth in the legislative process by letting them write their own legislative measures that are well-written, well-researched and responsive to the people’s needs.

The competition is open to undergraduate students who have completed at least three terms or semesters in universities and colleges in the country

The contest will have two stages — preliminary round and final round — where only one bill entry is allowed per team.

Interested participants of the contest may join the competition by forming a team of three students from the same college or university.

“If your entry does not win, we’ll make sure it will reach the people who could make use of it and it could have a good effect on society,” De Jesus said.

The bills in the competition must be national in scope; be a special law; consist of 10 to 20 sections; and use the prescribed format/outline details of which are posted on the House website.

There will be five winners, with the overall champion receiving a prize of P50,000; first runner up will receive P30,000; second runner up will receive P15,000 cash; third and fourth runners up will both receive P2,000 cash prize each; and all five of them will also receive a medal, certificate of recognition and House merchandise.

The winning bill will be referred to the appropriate committee to formally file it. Celine Amilhamja, INQUIRER.net trainee/JE