11th Congress ends; leaders bid farewell

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. banged the gavel for the last time last night, signaling the end of the third and last regular session of the 11th Congress.

"We have performed our tasks admirably and with distinction," Belmonte told his colleagues before adjourning their session.

He said both the majority and the minority did their jobs creditably during the three-year life of the outgoing Congress.

Belmonte said the House of Representatives of the 11th Congress will be remembered as having impeached a president – Joseph Estrada.

"The role we played in the impeachment trial of President Estrada and the gripping drama which prompted him to step down from the presidency will remain memorable episodes in Philippine history," he said.

Meanwhile, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel said the Senate in the 11th Congress has lived up to the people’s expectations.

In his statement on the last day of the outgoing Congress, Pimentel reported that the Senate enacted 391 laws, 48 of them of national significance, three joint resolutions, 28 concurrent resolutions and 91 simple resolutions. The Senate also passed over 4,000 bills of the House, most of which were bills of local application.

Meanwhile, two senators made their emotional farewell yesterday to the chamber as the 11th Congress adjourned after holding its last session day.

Senate Majority Leader Francisco Tatad and Sen. Nikki Coseteng waxed nostalgic as they delivered their valedictory addresses and reminisced on their nine-year stint in the Senate.

The two are among the four incumbent senators who would not be returning to the chamber. The two others are Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor Santiago, who lost their re-election bid. Both Enrile and Santiago were absent from yesterday’s "closing ceremonies."

Belmonte pointed out that the chamber he headed also holds the distinction of having been led by three Speakers under two administrations.

Belmonte assumed the speakership last Jan. 25, five days after President Arroyo took over from Estrada. He succeeded Arnulfo Fuentebella, whom Estrada allies installed on Nov. 14 after ousting Manuel Villar Jr. for fast-tracking the transmittal to the Senate the day before of the impeachment complaint against the former president.

For that singular act, Villar won the support of many Filipinos in his senatorial bid. He is among the 13 newly elected members of the incoming Senate.

Belmonte cited his predecessors’ leadership, saying under Villar, "this chamber extended its full cooperation to the Estrada administration in shoring up the Philippine economy and later endorsed the impeachment complaint to the Senate."

As for Fuentebella, he said his immediate predecessor "ably managed the affairs of the House during those trying and difficult days when the political crisis threatened the unity of our people."

The longest-serving Speaker among the three is Villar. Fuentebella had the shortest term, holding the post for less than two-and-a-half months.

While Villar won in the senatorial race, Belmonte was elected mayor of Quezon City. Fuentebella, on the other hand, decided to take a break from politics. His son William won his congressional seat. At 26, the newly elected Fuentebella could be the youngest of the incoming members of the House.

Under its three bosses, the House passed a total of 1,153 bills, of which 391 were signed by the President or had lapsed into law. Of the 391, 59 are of national application.

The most significant measures that the chamber approved are the Clean Air Act, which was signed into law on June 23, 1999, and the Power Sector Reform Bill, which is now awaiting President Arroyo’s signature and which the House passed last week.

"Restructuring our power industry would enhance the country’s industrialization prospects and put the Philippines in the global competitive market as haven for investments," Belmonte said.

He said if the measure has some defects, future Congresses can easily approve amendments.

He added that by approving the power bill, the outgoing Congress accomplished what its predecessors failed to do.

The bill was first filed in 1992 during the Ramos administration.

Administration officials said the enactment of the measure is the key to the release of some $1 billion in loans and assistance from international lending institutions.

Although Congress adjourned its third and last session last night, it will formally bow out at 12 noon on June 30 yet. That’s when the term of the outgoing set of lawmakers ends and that of the new batch begins.

The 12th Congress opens its first regular session on July 23 by hearing President Arroyo’s first State-of-the-Nation Address.

Two senators bid goodbye

"For the last nine years, the Senate has been my principal address. It has not just been a place of work – it has been a second home in many respects," Tatad said.

He said that it was at the Senate where he allowed his hopes and dreams for the country to soar and occupy his best efforts.

"It was here where I saw, as I had not seen before, that we cannot for any moment allow our leaders to be divided by their common desire to serve all Filipinos," Tatad added.

Tatad and Coseteng were disqualified from running for re-election as senators are limited to only two consecutive terms. Tatad did not run for any other post, while Coseteng lost her bid to regain her old seat in the House as Representative for the third district of Quezon City.

Tatad described the constitutional limitation to two consecutive terms in the Senate as "a political and intellectual aberration" since a senator is allowed to run again for the same position after the lapse of one election.

"Either we put a cap on the number of times a politician may serve a given position or leave everything in the hands of the voters – they are sovereign, let them decide," he argued.

Tatad thanked Senate Minority Leader Renato Cayetano for authoring and sponsoring a resolution commending his "outstanding performance as majority leader."

Meanwhile, Coseteng said that her life in the Senate was generally fulfilling, although fraught with difficulties, tests, trials and problems.

"We came here as misty-eyed idealists, brimming with bright ideas, hoping to effect changes that would result in a better life and a better nation, only to be disappointed that being a lone voice in a cacophony of 24, often, that lone voice gets drowned out," he noted.

She spoke of the many exposes she undertook during her two terms in the Senate and of her achievements as chair of the civil service committee.

Coseteng justified her vote during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, saying she made a principled stand that she would proudly carry to the end.

Her voice broke and her eyes swelled when she spoke of her mother, former Ambassador Alicia Coseteng who is now battling cancer.

"She never let on that she was gravely ill for fear that I would not have run in the last elections, perhaps thinking that I would have immediately flown to be at her side, never mind the elections," she said. "Of course, I would have done just that, I love you mom."

Pimentel also expressed the belief that the Senate would not suffer from the absence of Enrile, Santiago and Tatad.

"I do not share the view that the Senate as an institution will necessarily suffer from the absence of these renowned personalities. I think each individual senator has his own plan of service, own kind of expertise that he can put to good use for the advantage of the people," Pimentel said.