MANILA, Philippines - Unlike in the House of Representatives, the leadership of the Senate does not see the need to impose drastic measures to ensure prompt attendance in plenary sessions, but is nevertheless willing to review the rules on tardy senators.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday the chamber does have a problem with tardiness of senators and mustering a quorum during session sometimes, although many arrive on time.
“We’re supposed to start (session) at 3 p.m. but we start at around 3:15 p.m. It’s not much but it’s still late. We’ll go back to our rules and see what we can do to improve further,” Pimentel said in a telephone interview.
House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas over the weekend warned that congressmen arriving late for their 4 p.m. sessions will be locked out of the plenary hall during the roll call.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Panfilo Lacson also said the Senate is conducting business normally.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson pointed out the Senate now only has 22 members with Sen. Leila de Lima detained and former senator Alan Peter Cayetano appointed as foreign affairs secretary.
Meanwhile, congressmen supported the proposal of their majority leader to lock out their colleagues who are late for the roll call for the Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday sessions.
Batangas Rep. and Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu said Fariñas “has done it on a smaller scale in the committee on rules,” which Fariñas chairs.
“He’s proven that it works effectively. Sometimes we need somebody to take that role as a parent with a stick to instill discipline and order in the institution. We have a lot of work to accomplish and we need all hands on deck,” he said.
Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said it is the responsibility of lawmakers to attend their session on time.
“Drastic situation calls for drastic solution. Now is the time to be true to our oath,” he said.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said he hopes there would be no problem with the plan to close the plenary hall to tardy members at the start of session.
Fariñas said starting July 24 when Congress opens its second regular session, the roll of members would be called at the start of session at 4 p.m.
Those who do not respond to the call would be marked absent, he said.
This would allow the House to do more work, he said.
Since the convening of the 17th Congress in July, the House has recorded the presence of a quorum in its three-day-a-week sessions.
It was an unprecedented feat, Fariñas said.
However, on most days, the chamber had to wait for 30 minutes to more than an hour to have enough members for the roll call.
Some members said the attendance record Fariñas is bragging about could be broken if roll call is made at exactly 4 p.m.
If the majority leader can enforce his plan, no congressman would be happier than Lito Atienza of party-list Buhay, who is known as Mr. Quorum among his colleagues.
Atienza has consistently reminded the House leadership to ensure the presence of enough members at the start of every session.
He would question the quorum whenever attendance dwindles.