Yearender: Senate sets aside partisan political divide

MANILA, Philippines – As the administration of President Aquino ushered in a new era last June, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile remained at the helm.

But it was not a sure thing. Even up to the eve of the first session day of Congress last July 26, nobody had a clear idea who would emerge as Senate president.

Based on the pronouncements from the top contenders, it was clear that nobody had the numbers to secure the Senate’s top post.

Camps involved in the Senate presidency were Aquino’s Liberal Party with Sen. Francis Pangilinan as candidate; Nacionalista Party with losing presidential bet Manuel Villar as its bet; and another group with Enrile as head.

Enrile had to be able to get the support of the LP and NP blocs as well as the group of Sen. Edgardo Angara, who claimed to be the swing vote.

Enrile was noncommittal about his bid to retain the leadership of the Senate, even saying he had given his commitment to support the candidate of the LP to help push the agenda of the administration.

But he had behind him Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan and Vicente Sotto III.

On July 26, when the 15th Congress opened session, Enrile emerged as the winner in the Senate presidency.

“What happened here today is unique in our long political history. We have set aside the partisan political divide that separates us to arrive at a consensus to elect the head of this house,” Enrile said in his speech after being declared the new Senate president.

Right now, the Senate has no true opposition bloc, as was the case during previous administrations.

What it has is a minority bloc of three senators – Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cayetano – which, Enrile admitted, was formed to maintain a semblance of a democratic body. Based on the first five months of the current administration, it was clear that Congress would give the President all the help – at least in his first year in office.

The President said he would not raise or introduce new taxes in his first year and Congress supported this by not tackling any new revenue measures.

Two of the four measures passed by the Senate before it adjourned for the Christmas break originated from the executive branch – the 2011 national budget and Proclamation 75 granting amnesty to rebel soldiers.

The proposed budget was tackled by the Senate with a sense of urgency and with a mission to break the vicious cycle of having the national government operate on a reenacted budget at the start of the new fiscal year.

Senate records showed that this is the earliest the Senate had passed a budget bill since 1987 or since the Eighth Congress. The ratification of the bicameral report is also the earliest since the 8th Congress, Enrile said in his adjournment speech last Dec.15.

The amnesty proclamation also got the concurrence of the Senate, in spite of some minor roadblocks that delayed the process for a short period.

Just like the 2011 budget, the amnesty proclamation received the concurrence of almost all the senators.

The President’s amnesty proclamation came in response to the move of the Senate to pass a resolution expressing its sentiments that Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, one of the participants in the uprisings against the Arroyo administration, should be transferred to the Senate to participate in proceedings of the chamber.

Trillanes was detained for seven years for his role in the Oakwood mutiny of 2003 and the Manila Peninsula siege of 2007, both of which were meant to remove former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from office. The court recently ordered his release.

“The results of your hard work, I believe, are reflected in the good net 48 percent satisfaction rating the Senate garnered in the Social Weather Stations Third Quarter Survey from Sept. 24-27, 2010,” Enrile said.

“This could not have been earned if we as a body had not set aside the partisan political divide and worked together since we opened sessions earlier in July,” he said.

Senate remains incomplete

This year, the Senate remained incomplete after Sen. Panfilo Lacson went into hiding last January after he was implicated in the double murders of public relations man Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.

Another senator, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, was also not visible because she is on sick leave, while former actor and Sen. Lito Lapid is absent most of the time.

Majority leader Sen. Vicente Sotto III has admitted that the absence of Lacson and Trillanes has made it difficult for the chamber divided by their respective political alliances to get a majority vote on important matters.

At the opening of the 15th Congress last June, Enrile allowed Aquino’s Liberal Party allies and his close colleagues to handle key posts at the Senate, with Sen. Franklin Drilon heading the Senate finance committee that led deliberations on the 2011 budget.

True to their word, Drilon and other senators granted the President’s wish to have a new budget by Jan. 1, with the P21-billion conditional cash transfer program being the centerpiece of his administration.

Drilon also conducted public hearings on the excessive salaries and fat bonuses of executives of government-owned and controlled corporations.

The Senate conducted fresh investigations into the alleged involvement of top government officials including Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Undersecretary Rico Puno, and police generals in the jueteng payola.The Senate also looked into the mishandling of the Aug. 23 hostage incident which drew massive criticisms against the administration.

The Commission on Audit likewise called the Senate’s attention to the questionable disbursements by the office of Lacson, who was apparently personally signing the monthly disbursement reports even if he was in hiding.

Expectations or 2011

As the nation got ready for the New Year, Sen. Loren Legarda welcomed President Aquino’s pronouncement that he will convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

“We expect a very productive, robust working relationship between the executive and legislative,” Legarda said.

Sen. Francis Escudero is hoping that the infighting among the President’s allies will stop as they put the country above their own personal interests, while Sen. Francis Pangilinan believes that real change is forthcoming in the coming year.

“P-Noy’s victory in the elections is a great example of how we as a nation can turn the tide and become one in influencing how our future should be played out,” Pangilinan said.

Accomplishments

In his speech during the last session day of the Senate before the holiday break, Enrile outlined the accomplishments of the chamber.

“Behind this achievement is the laborious and tedious work conducted by our Committee on Finance and its subcommittees. The finance subcommittees held 39 budget hearings. Plenary debates on the budget took six session days, from Nov. 23 to 26 and Nov. 30 to Dec. 1,” Enrile said.

He noted that senators spent a total of 44 hours discussing the budget in plenary.

Enrile lauded Drilon for leading the deliberations on what was described as an “unabashedly pro-poor” budget that includes, among others, direct cash transfer to the poorest of the poor and a heavy infusion of funds on basic education.

The Senate also approved on third reading the Batas Kasambahay Bill 78.

Commendable also is the work being done by the Senate committees since the 15th Congress opened last July 26, Enrile said.

These committee hearings and investigations complement the new administration’s thrust to curb, if not to eliminate, corruption in high places and to encourage the prudent use of the people’s money by the government bureaucracy.

Overall, the Senate primary committees and subcommittees held 125 public hearings from July to end of November 2010.

National issues such as the serious effects of climate change, environment and natural resources, anomalies in the housing sector, illegal drugs and human trafficking were brought to public attention through privilege speeches and hearings conducted by the respective Senate committees during the period, the Senate president said.

“In the first few months of the First Regular Session, we have laid down legislation that will serve as cornerstones for other laws that may further address the economic needs of our people, build more infrastructure called for by investors to facilitate trade and commerce and generate employment, lessen corruption in government, and establish the proper environment for reconciliation and peace.

“This will bring about national stability and unity,” Enrile said. –Christina Mendez and Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star)