House membership at 283, the biggest in history

MANILA, Philippines—The membership of the House of Representatives has ballooned to 283—and still counting.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. administered the oath to three more party-list lawmakers before the House adjourned last week for the holidays.

The newest members are party-list representatives Solaiman Pangandaman of Kasosyo Producers-Consumers Exchange Association Inc., Catalina Bagasina of the Association of Laborers and Employees, and Isidro Lico of Adhikaing Tinataguyod ng Kooperatiba (Goals Advocated by the Cooperative).

They were proclaimed winners in the party-list elections by the Commission on Elections.

Pangandaman, Bagasina and Lico brought the total membership to 283, the biggest in Congress’ history, according to Belmonte.

“There’s no particular advantage as far as Congress work is concerned. But under-represented sectors or territories get more representation,” he said.

But the cast of characters is by no means complete yet.

According to Belmonte, three more representations are pending—two prospective winners of the party-list polls and a special election, and the replacement of the late Cagayan Representative Florencio Vargas.

Pangandaman joins his nephew Lanao del Sur Representative Hussin Pangandaman in the chamber. Bagasina is a former mayor of Sasmuan, Pampanga, while Lico is a lawyer.

The Speaker said he has observed a high rate of attendance during the roll call and at the plenary debates in the past 45 sessions.

But more than the high attendance rate, he had high praise for some neophyte lawmakers for delivering substantive privilege speeches and interpellations.

Party-list members are also entitled to the annual P70-million pork barrel, or priority development assistance fund, that constituency representatives get.

The Constitution prescribes that 20 percent of the House of Representatives be reserved for party-list members. Under the Party-List System Act, or Republic Act 7941 of 1995, a party-list group has to gain two percent of the total number of votes cast in a party-list election to get a seat in the House of Representatives.

However, the Supreme Court in April 2009 approved a new formula for allotting party-list seats, effectively increasing to 55 from 22 the number of reserved party-list House seats. –TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer