Senate vows to end 15th Congress on a high note

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate intends to adjourn the 15th Congress on a high note, with the approval of a significant number of bills, including those requested by Malacañang.

The House of Representatives will also hold its final session next week to mark the closing of the 15th Congress.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said the one-day session on June 5 aims to pass pending measures, mostly those in the final stages of approval.

The Senate has two so-called lame duck sessions left before the 15th Congress ends, and more than a month before the 16th Congress starts on July 22 with the 12 newly-elected senators.

Five senators – Joker Arroyo, Edgardo Angara, Manuel Villar Jr., Francis Pangilinan and Panfilo Lacson – are at the end of their terms this June.

If the five, who are called lame duck senators, will attend the remaining two session days, these would be called as lame duck sessions.

But based on the agenda for the June 5 session, which was provided by the office of Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, the first of the last two days of the 15th Congress is far from being lame.

Thirty-six bills are lined up for approval in third and final reading, including the ratification of the extradition treaties between the Philippines and India, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

For the three treaties to come into force, the Senate will have to concur to the ratification from Malacañang.

A number of local bills are also set for final reading, including the creation of the new province of Nueva Camarines. Fourteen committee reports are also lined up for interpellation.

Belmonte said among the bills likely to be tackled in the House’s final session are the proposed amendments to the juvenile justice law, which is up for ratification; the delineation of specific forest limits of the public domain, and the expansion of the science and technology scholarship programs.

After the legislative work, the 287-member House will adjourn sine die.

Sotto said he met recently with the executive committee of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to discuss the agenda for the last two session days.

“I promised to include some of the Palace requests,” Sotto said without elaborating, as he noted that a lot of the bills in the agenda were leftovers from the previous session in February.

Congress adjourned last Feb. 9 to give way for the campaign period.

He said in the 15th Congress, the Senate was always productive despite the numerous obligations that needed immediate attention, such as the Corona impeachment trial.

House records as of Feb. 6 showed there were 304 approved measures, 79 of which are of national scope, and 225 of local concern.

House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez said there were speculations that outgoing lawmakers like him would be cited.

“While many ‘graduating’ lawmakers should be honored, like Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay and Deputy Speaker Erin Tañada, some should not be cited,” Suarez told The STAR. – With Paolo Romero