Congress

By: Julie M. Aurelio – Reporter, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 2 Jan 2022 MANILA, Philippines — Several priority reforms are “ripe for picking” that would enable President Rodrigo Duterte to cap his term in 2022 on a high note, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chair of the House ways and means panel, said on Saturday.

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by Daphne Galvez, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Jul 23, 2019 MANILA, Philippines — As earlier agreed, neophyte senators got the chairmanships over some of the important committees in the Senate.

BY BERNADETTE E. TAMAYO, Manila Times, Jun 18, 2019 INCOMING senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Monday laid down his priority bills in the 18th Congress, which include the proposal to increase the salary of teachers.

By: DJ Yap, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Aug 12, 2017 Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago In the House of billionaires and multimillionaires, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago is practically a pauper with a declared wealth of only P50,000 for 2016.

Sen Miriam Defensor Santiago Editor’s Note: Below is the keynote speech she delivered on July 15, 2013 at the opening ceremonies of the 2013 National Accountancy Week celebration by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Makati City.

MANILA, Philippines – The outgoing Congress had approved more than 100 key pieces of legislation, mostly on promoting human rights as well as strengthening the economy and the campaign against crime and corruption, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

THE 15TH CONGRESS’ output was said to have exceeded expectations given the number of priority measures passed. Chinese New Year declaring as holiday is up for Congress ratificationBangsamoro in 16th Congress agendaAMLA amendments OK’dAMLA changes up for Congress ratificationHouse okays foreign equity in rural banks

President Aquino has signed into law in the past two years 150 local bills that created 42 new high schools, two elementary schools, five congressional districts, and five component cities, House of Representatives Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said on Sunday.

SEN. Panfilo Lacson on Sunday claimed that some lawmakers are demanding commissions from government projects funded by their “pork barrel” and that he intends to personally inform President Benigno Aquino 3rd about it.

Corruption by lawmakers in the use of their so-called pork barrel continues to take place even under the stewardship of President Aquino, a political ally in the Senate bared yesterday.

The Senate had its fair share of excitement in 2011, including the return of three senators to the 23-member chamber and a flurry of inquiries, which catapulted several personalities to notoriety. In the first week of January, detained Sen. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was given amnesty and joined the Senate the first time since he…

MANILA, Philippines –  The government needs P187.1 billion or about 10 percent of the proposed P1.8 trillion national budget for 2012 to implement 184 laws passed by Congress since 1991, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said in a report to the House of Representatives.

MANILA, Philippines – A political analyst has criticized lawmakers for filing “silly bills ” in the national legislature. This, after Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo drew flak for filing House Bill 5316 or the anti-planking bill the other day.

Impatience is starting to creep in among local businesses as they complain that the 15th Congress under the Aquino administration has so far passed into law only three economic reform bills.

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty-three priority measures will be presented to leaders and members of Congress during Tuesday’s Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting, President Aquino said yesterday.

MANILA, Philippines – A party-list lawmaker is facing graft charges for allegedly diverting portions of his pork barrel funds to build a hotel in a privately owned resort in Laguna and finance a protest rally against the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

ONLY eight out of the 1,712 measures filed were approved during the First Regular Session of the Fifteenth Congress, the House of Representatives reported on Monday. In their Performance Report, the House said that of the eight measures approved, one was a House joint resolution.

The issue of the non-release of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to some members of the House of Representatives is getting out of control as Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco yesterday challenged Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda to be man enough to own up responsibility over the pork…

Manila, Philippines – The House of Representatives will pursue with greater vigor the approval of vital socio-economic and reform bills during the second regular session of Congress, to improve governance and uplift the lives of Filipinos, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

THE Palace has made good its threat to withhold pork barrel from the lawmakers who voted against two bills that President Benigno Aquino III had certified as urgent, with 17 congressmen getting nothing from their P35-million allotment for the first half of the year.

MANILA, Philippines – Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. yesterday bared an additional list of 23 priority measures for the House of Representatives during its second regular session that opens on Monday. Belmonte said the measures would cover the areas of good governance, agriculture, human rights, cultural communities, land administration and ecology, education and anti-terror policies.

They’re supposed to act as fiscalizers in the upper chamber, yet they appear to be nowhere in action, most of the time. Those considered to be in the ranks of the “opposition” in the Senate have posted the most number of either absences or official leaves of absence in the last First Regular Session of…

Administration and opposition lawmakers have decried the long delay in the release of their pork barrel funds and urged Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad to give priority to funds intended for scholarships, medical assistance and infrastructure projects.

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BELMONTE SHRUGS OFF OUSTER BID A coup in the House of Representatives is in the works and a group led by Liberal Party (LP) members in the chamber will back Cavite Rep. Joseph Emil Abaya to replace Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte.

Manila, Philippines – Boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao is the new and only billionaire in the House of Representatives.

At least P500-million in state subsidy for political parties or a total of P3 billion for the six major groups is high on the agenda of a House panel hearing on a bill that seeks to demolish political patronage, influence peddling and turncoatism.

MANILA, Philippines –  Manuel Villar Jr. remained the richest senator, but his declared assets were reduced from close to P1 billion to about P725 million in the election year of 2010. His statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) showed Villar’s assets totaled P725,221,964 with no liabilities. Antonio Trillanes IV replaced Joker Arroyo in…