Tardy congressmen to be locked out of session hall

MANILA, Philippines - Congressmen arriving late for their sessions will be locked out of the session hall during the roll call, Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas said yesterday.

“We will call the roll of members at exactly 4 p.m. Those who do not respond to the roll call will be marked absent, except those attending committee hearings as authorized by the rules committee or the majority leader,” he said.

He said the prompt roll call would start on July 24, when Congress opens its second regular session.

He said it is unfair for those who arrive on time if the House continues the practice of waiting for enough members to fill the plenary hall before the roll of members is called.

He added that starting the session on time would also allow the House to do more work.

The chamber holds sessions from Monday through Wednesday. Sessions are opened promptly at 4 p.m. but are immediately suspended to await the arrival of more members before the roll is called.

There is usually no quorum if the presiding officer orders a roll call at 4 p.m. 

Fariñas said the House has so far mustered quorum every session day it held since the 17th Congress started its first and regular session last July.

It’s an unprecedented feat, he said.

He said the leadership is also considering starting sessions at 10 a.m. instead of 4 p.m.

“We can hold sessions in the morning and committee hearings in the afternoon,” he said.

Previous congresses were plagued with perennial absenteeism of members. 

There were various proposals to stop absenteeism, including the arrest of absentee members and penalizing them with salary cuts, but none of these was every done.