Second session of 17th Congress opens; passage of key bills eyed
The Senate and House of Representatives opened the second regular session of the 17th Congress Monday morning ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the House of Representatives later in the afternoon.
In the Senate, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III banged the gavel at exactly 10:13 a.m., signaling the opening of the session while House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez opened the session at 10:04 a.m.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will hold a joint session at 4 p.m. Monday at the Batasang Pambansa to hear Duterte’s address to the nation.
The majority members present were Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara, JV Ejercito, Richard Gordon, Gringo Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
READ: Senate opens second regular session of 17th Congress
Three of six opposition members — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Bam Aquino and Risa Hontiveros — also attended the session while three were absent —Senators Leila De Lima who is currently detained at the PNP police custodial center, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
Cabinet secretaries were likewise present at the opening of session at the Senate such as former-senator-now-Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, and Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano.
Pimentel earlier said that pending priority legislation for this session were the revival of the death penalty, tax reform, lowering of the age of criminal liability and constitutional amendments for a shift to the federal form of government.
The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, the tax reform bill and the “end of endo” bill, or the Contractualization Act of 2017, are hoped to be certified as urgent by the Senate, said Pimentel.
The House, meanwhile, boasted of passing on final reading bills on the death penalty for drug-related offenses, the 10-year validity of Philippine passports, the five-year validity for driver’s license, an amendment to the Revised Penal Code, a free public Wi-Fi, the tax reform package, provision for free education, the inclusion of casinos in the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, among others, during the first regular session.
READ: House opens second regular session
In the 17th Congress, the lower chamber processed 1,247 measures in 97 session days, for an average of 13 measures processed per day, during the first regular session covering July 25, 2016 to May 31, 2017.
The first regular session was relatively less productive than previous Congresses.
READ: 17th Congress not as productive as predecessors in its first session
During the first regular session of the 15th Congress from July 26, 2010 to June 8, 2011, the lower house processed 1,712 measures in 73 session days, for an average of 23 measures processed per day, according to its performance report.
During the first regular session of the 16th Congress from July 22, 2013 to June 11, 2014, the lower house processed 1,136 bills in 69 session days, for an average of 16 measures processed per day, according to a separate performance report.
House leaders in a previous press conference defended the legislative performance of the first regular session, adding that the number of bills did not accurately reflect the productivity of the House.
They urged instead to look at the quality of the bills churned out by the legislative mill. IDL/rga
