17th Congress ends session with 4 laws passed

MANILA, Philippines - The first regular session of the 17th Congress ended last Wednesday after 10 months of work, which resulted in the enactment of only four bills into law.

Foremost in the laws enacted was the 2017 General Appropriations Act or the national budget, which is considered the most important piece of legislation every year so its passage in Congress is expected.

The three other laws were the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections and the extension of the franchises of Smart Communications and GMA Network.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III ended the “eventful” and “productive” first regular session of Congress for the Senate and thanked his colleagues for all the hard work that they put in.

“We celebrated our 100th anniversary during this session. Throughout our session, we were guided in our efforts by the 11-point agenda we agreed upon to form the majority. In addition to that is the general expression of support for President Duterte’s agenda for change,” he said.

“As Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III always reminds us, the most important law of each year is the budget. This is the 2017 Budget for Change. In this budget, we shared the nation’s blessings with all our countrymen in the form of novel ideas like the free tuition in state universities and colleges, free irrigation for farmers, free health insurance coverage for all and well distributed strategic infrastructure works, among others,” he added.

Based on statistics of the Senate’s Legislative Bills and Index Service, a total of 1,487 bills were filed by the 24 senators since July last year, of which only 241 were acted on, meaning they were either taken up on first, second or third reading.

Apart from the four bills already enacted into law, Pimentel pointed out that another six bills have been submitted to Malacañang for signing by the President.

These are the Free Internet Access in Public Places Act (SBN 1277), which would provide free internet access in public places and government offices; Philippine Passport Act (SBN 1365), which would extend the validity of Philippine passports to 10 years; the bill that strengthens the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law (SBN 1353), which would impose higher penalties on hospitals that refuse to administer treatment to emergency patients; the Free Higher Education for All Act (SBN 1304), which would provide for full tuition subsidies to students in state universities and colleges; and the amendments to the Revised Penal Code (SBN 14), which sought to adjust the amounts under the 87-year-old Revised Penal Code to prevent cruel and excessive punishment; the amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act (SBN 1468), which would expand the coverage of the AMLA to include casinos; and the extension of the validity of driver’s licenses to five years (SBN 1449).

Another 33 bills were approved on third and final reading by the Senate, including the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Act; Mental Health Act of 2017; Sagip Saka and Tulong Trabaho.