House fills more committee posts

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has elected more chairmen of committees so they can start hearings on bills and resolutions.

Elected chairmen in plenary session on Monday night were Representatives Mark Llandro Mendoza of Batangas, agriculture; Henry Pride Teves of Negros Oriental, agrarian reform; and Florencio Noel of the party-list group An Waray, accounts.

The accounts committee manages the funds of the House. Traditionally, its chairman is a personal choice of the Speaker.

Last week, the House elected Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II as chairman of the committee on rules and Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. as head of the committee on justice, the panel that hears complaints against impeachable officials.

The two impeachment cases filed against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez will be referred to the committee of Tupas, a member of the Liberal Party (LP).

The House was scheduled to fill more committee assignments last night.

“We expect to finish filling at least 50 percent of these positions up to tomorrow,” Gonzales told reporters.

He said what is taking the organization of committees so long “is the fact that we are consulting with our coalition partners and awaiting nominations from them for committee assignments.”

“We are making sure that there is equitable representation in committees among our coalition party-members. We are targeting to complete the organization of committees next week,” he said.

The opposition bloc headed by Minority Leader Edcel Lagman has nominated its members in the committees so far organized.

The nominees did not include former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has expressed her desire to be just an ordinary member of the House.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has offered the chairmanship of the ethics committee to the minority. Lagman said his Lakas group would most likely nominate Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fua as ethics panel head.

Mrs. Arroyo, if she wants to, could become a member of any committee provided that Lagman nominates her.

Other members of the majority who are expected to chair committees are Representatives Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite, appropriations; Hermilando Mandanas of Batangas, ways and means; Sergio Apostol of Leyte, banks; Amado Bagatsing of Manila, games and amusement; Elpidio Barzaga Jr. also of Cavite, suffrage and electoral reform; Salvador Escudero III, basic education; and Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora, higher education.

Abaya and Mandanas are LP members. The committee on appropriations is the panel that scrutinizes the annual budget, while the ways and means committee has jurisdiction over tax measures and issues.

Apostol, Bagatsing and Barzaga are members of the Lakas faction that is part of the LP-led House majority coalition. Apostol is former presidential legal counsel during the Arroyo administration.

Escudero is a member of the United Opposition, while Angara belongs to Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino.

Besides Belmonte, Gonzales and the chairmen of five committees, the House has elected five deputy speakers.