12 out of 32 Palace bills to be presented to Congress

Going by the principle that haste makes waste, President Aquino yesterday disclosed that only 12 out of the 32 bills that have made it to their priority shortlist may be presented by the executive department to the 15th Congress.

Aquino provided media a glimpse of what transpired in the seven-hour full-Cabinet meeting he presided last Tuesday in Malacañang and said that out of the 138 measures that his secretaries would want to prioritize, only 32 has made the initial cut but this will be further trimmed down to 12.

The Chief Executive failed to disclose all the bills that have been agreed upon but he was able to mention some including the K-plus 12 program of the Department of Education, the rationalization of the benefits and other perks received by the government-owned and controlled-corporation (GOCC) executives, and reviewing the industries and entities that are imbued with national interest.

Aquino relayed that his policy on responsible parenthood was discussed in lieu of the Reproductive Health bill but the features of it were left hanging given the government’s joint undertaking with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) regarding this matter which, he said, he would like to honor.

“We have a joint statement with the CBCP and we are adhering to that. But may I just emphasize, no insistence, no trickery, there will be (equivalent) sanctions if that happens and maybe we will also try to set up natural family planning centers also, apart from the other methods that will be undertaken by the DoH (Department of Health). But the access to everybody who decides on their own will be done,” Aquino explained.

Aquino said reasons behind his decision not to certify any of the bills that were included in his shortlist as urgent, citing the provision stated under the Constitution.

“The Constitution is very specific. Once you certify it (the bill) as urgent, there has to be an emergency and there is a disaster being addressed (at present). Now, all I’m saying is that, in my opinion, when you say something is urgent, you are asking a co-equal branch to take the necessary action on a particular matter right away,” Aquino said.

“Because of so many things before that were being described as urgent, I don’t think they are still being covered by that provision in the Constitution. There’s a tendency that (the certification powers) is being abused in which, we would really have a problem (if we keep such practice) — the sense of urgency of the measures dissipates,” he added.

“So, all I’m saying is, we will tell them (lawmakers) priority bills when we talk to the leadership of both chambers and also the minority that these are very important pieces of legislation. But we want to be very straight in the interpretation of the Constitution that there are requirements to certify it as urgent,” Aquino said.

He said they will be pushing not exceeding 12 bills during the first blow and after which, he will be counting on his allies in Congress that have their own team of advocates to push for the same bills they want to prioritize.

“I’m sure if you ask all of the (secretaries in the) departments, they’ll ask them (lawmakers) to push all 138. But how can it possibly happen? There has to be a prioritization. So it will be relegated to 12 to ensure the swift passage of the necessary measures,” he stressed. –Aytch S. de la Cruz, Daily Tribune