Death penalty dropped from list of urgent bills

The death penalty bill is conspicuously absent from the list of 35 measures the Senate and the House of Representatives have agreed to prioritize in the second regular session of the 17th Congress.

Leaders of the two chambers agreed on Wednesday to pass bills on tax reforms, traffic emergency powers and the end of endo, or contractualization, before the end of 2017, as well as to revise the 1987 Constitution and approve the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

Not on the priority list is the bill restoring the death penalty, which has been passed on third reading by the House and one of the measures pushed by President Duterte during his State of the Nation Address on Monday.

“We agreed to disagree on some things,” House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said at a press briefing.

The meeting, attended by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, as well as the majority and minority leaders of the two chambers, took place on Wednesday morning at the Edsa Shangri-La Hotel, where they set targets for the passage of priority bills.

Four quarters

Speaking to reporters afterward, House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said consensus was reached by both leaderships to divide the second regular session into four quarters.

The first quarter starts from Monday until the adjournment in October, the second will cover November and December, the third January and March 2018, and the fourth May and June 2018.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III told reporters the plan was to approve the priority bills in two quarters.

“There is a list of priority measures that are already pending on second, third reading and passed on the committee level,” Sotto said.

Fariñas noted that many of the measures had already been passed by the House over the past 12 months, including the first tax reform package and the proposed National Land Use Act.

Some of the measures the Congress leaders want to pass in the next three months are the proposed Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act, national ID system, antidiscrimination bill and the measure seeking to end the practice of contractualization, or the short-term contracting of labor.

The lawmakers did not give a clear time frame for the proposal to revise the 1987 Constitution to pave the way for the switch to the federal system.

BBL timetable

On the proposed BBL, a draft copy of which was submitted to President Duterte two weeks ago, Sotto said they hoped they would be able to pass the measure by the end of the year.

Mr. Duterte has said he will certify the BBL as urgent.

Fariñas said the proposed BBL might have to be “tied with” the federalization measure, as certain constitutional provisions would be affected in creating a new self-governing region for majority-Muslim provinces in Mindanao.

He said the House and the Senate agreed to form a technical working group to propose changes to the Constitution.

Other priority measures

Other priority measures are the condonation of agrarian and agricultural credit, enhanced universal healthcare, mental health, ban on conversion of irrigated lands, occupational safety and health standards, community service in lieu of imprisonment for the penalty of arresto menor.

Public Service Act amendments, legislative franchise for operating railways, stiffer penalty for violation of the minimum wage law, free school feeding “pagkaing Pinoy para sa batang Pinoy,” estate tax reform, coconut farmers and industry development, ease of doing business/fast business permit, one town, one doctor.

Corporation Code of the Philippines, Social Security Act Amendments, expansion of coverage of the Local Absentee Voting Act, amendments to Family Code of the Philippines (default property regime; complete separation of property), Department of Housing and Urban Development, antidiscrimination, Government Procurement Reform Act amendments, allowable/recoverable systems loss (electricity).

Salary standardization law IV, unified uniformed personnel benefits and pension reform, criminal investigation, amendments to the Fair Election Act, antihazing law amendments, antiterrororism, rice tarrification, Department of Disaster Response and rightsizing the national government.