PLLO sleeping on the job

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III has no one to blame but himself for the negative public reaction to his veto of House Bill No. 5842 after allowing Congress to pass House Bill 5842, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Saturday.

Binay said if President Aquino had no intention of granting the pension increase of P2,000 per month to Social Security System (SSS) pensioners, he should not have allowed Congress to approve the bill.

Or worse, the Presidential Legislative Liaison Officer was sleeping on the job by not bringing the proposed bill to the attention of the President.

If the President does not agree with proposed legislation, he can block it by telling the Speaker his objection.

As a matter of policy, payment of benefits by SSS and Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) should be left to the discretion of management and not to Congress.

“It is a waste of time, effort and resources for a proposed bill to undergo the whole legislative process of two Houses only to be vetoed in the end,” Binay said.

The Vice President promised that the issue of SSS pension increase would be a priority if he is elected President.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. proposed a compromise amount of a P1,000 monthly increase for SSS pensioners.

Senator Sergio Osmeña III said the President was right to veto the said House Bill to protect the financial viability of the SSS.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the President’s veto reflected “responsibility over politics.”

Did the Congress pass a bill without studying its consequences? The House approved the bill five days after the House committee on government enterprise and privatization signed it on June 4 of last year, the same day Colmenares filed the bill – no study and no hearings with SSS officials to testify. In legislative history, the pension-hike bill is the fastest bill ever approved by the Congress, or the only bill of major importance approved by all 211 members of the House of Representatives.

The Senate approved the pension-hike bill on November 9 of last year, six months after they adopted it on June 11. On August 5, the bill was referred to two Senate committees and approved it two weeks later with no hearings and study.

The question now: Why Aquino did not bother to ask the authors of the bill for its implications long before it was approved by Congress and Senate?

Throwing rotten tomatoes and eggs at a mounted image of President Aquino, around a hundred protesters marched from Recto to Mendiola yesterday to demand for the P2,000 pension hike that was vetoed by President Aquino last January 14, demanding the Congress to override the veto. The protesters refused to compromise on a lesser amount.

Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile said that Congress could override the presidential veto of the bill with two-thirds vote from both the Senate and Congress.

As Senate majority floor leader, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano urges his fellow legislators to make history by ending the executive branch’s legacy of vetoing important laws.

As for Mar Roxas, he will suggest to the President other forms of financial assistance for pensioners. However, there was no guarantee that the President would heed Roxas’ suggestion, according to Daang Matuwid spokesman Barry Gutierrez.

Also inclined to override the president’s veto is Senator Grace Poe. Poe said that based on studies made by legislators before passing the bill, the SSS had a source to fund the increase. She also added the government should instead improve SSS contribution collection system.

To also show their disappointment at the President’s decision, another group marched to the House of Representatives to support a privilege speech on the vetoed bill. The group also plans to hold more protests in front of SSS offices all over the country, and at the Senate, and the Lower House.

Only 9 days left

Congress resumed sessions yesterday with only nine session days left before adjourning on February 6 for the 2016 elections.

The biggest question mark is whether the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will be passed. Even assuming it will be passed in the House of Representatives, it is doubtful that the Senate will pass the measure.

Even if the Senate will pass its version of the measure, again, it is doubtful whether the bicameral conference committee can reconcile the two versions.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leadership has gone on record in saying that the revised draft presented by Senator Bongbong Marcos is not acceptable to them.

Meanwhile, Senate President Frank Drilon said that the Senate will pass 34 pending bills in addition to the BBL.

Up for Senate approval is the P226-billion four-year Salary Standardization Law IV, and the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act (CTMA).

Also up for approval is the Foreign Ownership Restrictions Act (FORA), the Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Plan Act (CTEPA), the Expanded Maternity Leave Act (EMLA) and the Public Private Partnership Act (PPPA).

The Senate will also pass a resolution congratulating Miss Pia Wurtzbach, for winning the Miss Universe 2015 crown.