Nograles wants House to act on 3 priority bills before 'election fever' sets in

MANILA, Philippines – In anticipation of the onset of “election fever” as early as next year, Speaker Prospero Nograles has called on his 239 colleagues in the House of Representatives to act – favorably or not – on three controversial priority measures before the year ends.

“I want these controversial proposals to be off my back by December and I need your help to make it happen,” he told his colleagues in the majority coalition, referring to the bills on Charter change, reproductive health and the extension of the agrarian reform program.

“We can either approve or relegate these measures to our archives but either way, we should act as soon as possible,” said the Davao City congressman, who earlier told the Manila Overseas Press Club he was willing to “bite the bullet” with regards to Cha-cha.

In a statement, Nograles said party leaders in the chamber should hold separate caucuses and “get the collective pulse” of their members to form the basis of each party’s position.

“Those who refuse to participate but have something against the position of the party should forever hold their peace,” he added.

Nograles said “it is time we face the issues” raised in the three priority measures.

Shifting the system of government “cuts through the core of our convictions on what kind of government can best serve the interests” of the people, he said.

The reproductive health bill “hits at the integrity of the freedom of reproductive choice especially among women,” Nograles added, while CARP “strikes at the economic welfare of millions of our poor families and our farmers.”

The equally important P1.415-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2009 should also be approved before December.

“This (2009 GAA) is the most important piece of legislation that we pass each year. It will be bad for the country if we cannot pass this on time because we spend too much time debating on these three issues,” he pointed out.

 ‘Election fever’ in 2009

According to the Nograles, the House is bent to pass all priority pieces of legislation, including “at least 35 more” before the chamber goes on recess in mid-October, and approve 40 more by the time they take their month-long Christmas break.

“We are geared to pass all our priority measures before the first quarter of 2009 simply because the storm of election fever will hit the country by the second quarter of 2009” ahead of the 2010 presidential polls, Nograles said.

At this point, “attention to the tasks of legislation may be less focused among solons seeking re-election or election to higher posts.”

For his part, Sen. Richard Gordon called on officials yesterday to make Charter change an election issue even as he maintained that any amendments to the Constitution must be done after 2010.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate constitutional amendments committee, said he wanted the issue of changing the Constitution to be an election issue so that the move to alter it after 2010 would be free from suspicions and from any political vested interest of the President and other incumbent officials.

“Should we decide to change our Constitution after May 2010, for the first time in the country’s political history, we will have a chance to have a Constitution that would be drafted by non-partisan constitutional experts,” he said.

Gordon added he would bring public consultations on proposals to revise the 1987 Constitution down to the regional and provincial level. He noted that any discussion on Cha-cha should involve the greatest number of people and the widest array of sectors.

“Those contemplating on running for the presidency in 2010 must argue and take a stance, otherwise they mean nothing,” he said, adding that he was open to the idea of reviewing the term limits of the President and other elective officials.

Gordon also said he would like to validate mounting calls from some sectors to replace the presidential, bicameral to parliamentary or federal, unicameral system of government.

Pro-life vigil at House

Nograles bragged that so far for the past six months under his watch, “reform efforts propelled the House to be more productive.” For 38 session days under Nograles’ watch, the chamber approved 251 measures and 399 resolutions. “Almost 18 measures in a given session day,” he said. Of these, 10 have become law and two bicameral reports have been ratified for submission and signature of President Arroyo.

Supporters of the pro-life campaign will stage a three-day vigil at the House of Representatives starting tomorrow to closely watch plenary debates on the reproductive health bill.

Sr. Pilar Verzosa of Pro-Life Philippines told Radio Veritas recently that they would also sit in the gallery from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. as a way of showing their support to pro-life lawmakers.

“We are calling on everyone who values life to join us in our vigil in Congress to enlighten our legislators on the importance of life. We should monitor the actions of our congressmen because we are the ones paying for their salaries and therefore they should be looking out for our welfare and not for their personal interests,” she said.

Versoza cautioned those who would be attending the vigil against doing anything to disrupt the proceedings. If they are asked by security personnel where they are headed, Versoza advised attendees to say that they are going to the office of Buhay party-list Rep. Rene Velarde and look for Agoy Escaliar to avoid any trouble.

Versoza said that their organization backs natural family planning and strongly objects to the use of contraceptives and other modern methods of family planning. The reproductive health bill, she said, will put an end to natural family planning. – Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan