With 6 days to go, House, Senate to act on dozens of bills

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to act with dispatch on at least a dozen bills in the remaining six session days before Congress goes on a break for the electoral campaign, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday.

The list of bills to be prioritized for approval was drawn up during a meeting last weekend between Belmonte, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and other leaders of both chambers.

“We reviewed the things that are pending with them (Senate) and with us (House), we exchanged views, and we all agreed we should push them,” the Speaker said.

He said he reviewed the bills that are already in the final stages of approval or passed in third reading and are now awaiting concurrence in the Senate.

The House ratified yesterday the Early Voting for Media Act and has approved on third and final reading a total of 35 bills that are awaiting action from the Senate, including amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Council Law, the Philippine Passport Act, the bill Strengthening the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program, the National Land Use and Management Act, the bill Establishing the Archipelagic Sea Lanes in the Philippine Archipelagic Waters, and the bill for a Comprehensive Regulation of Firearms, Light Weapons and Ammunition. 

Five bills are pending in the bicameral conference committee, a panel composed of representatives from the Senate and the House, which will reconcile the differing versions of the measures from each chamber.

The measures include House Bill 4241, or Expanding the Prohibited Acts of Discrimination Against Women on Account of Sex authored; HB 4807, or The Anti-Racial, Ethnic and Religious Discrimination Act; HB 5990, or The Compensation Act to Victims of Human Rights; HB 6685, or An Act Strengthening Tripartism; and HB 6686, or An Act Strengthening Conciliation-Mediation as a Voluntary Mode of Dispute Settlement for all Labor Cases.