With a total of 523 bills and resolutions filed as of April 5, Santiago emerged as No. 1 among the 23 senators in coming up with proposed legislation.
Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. came in second with a total of 402 bills and resolutions filed during the same period.
Third was Sen. Sergio Osmeña III with 352 bills filed, followed by Sen. Jinggoy Estrada with 303.
Rounding out the top 10 were Estrada’s mother, Sen. Luisa Ejercito, who came in fifth with 212; Sen. Edgardo Angara with 175, Ramon Magsaysay Jr. with 147, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, 132; Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., 125; and Sen. Ralph Recto, 124.
Next on the list of prolific senators were Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier with 116 bills, Rodolfo Biazon with 114, and Manuel Roxas II with 101 bills. The remaining senators filed fewer than 100 bills or resolutions.
On the other hand, Sen. Joker Arroyo authored the least number of bills at 26, only two of which he was the principal author.
Sen. Manuel Lapid followed Arroyo with 46, followed by Juan Ponce Enrile who filed 57; Alfredo Lim with 58; Panfilo Lacson with 59; Pia Cayetano with 67; Senate President Franklin Drilon, 71; Ramon Revilla Jr., 82; Jamby Madrigal, 88; and Richard Gordon, 98.
All told, the Senate filed a total of 3,478 bills and resolutions as of April 5 this year.
The crafting of legislation is the primary function of Congress, which is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
However, this function was sidetracked somewhat over the past year as both the Senate and the House conducted a high number of inquiries, not all of which were in aid of legislation.
While members of Congress filed a great number of bills, only a fraction of these were actually passed into law and most ended up on the legislative shelf.
Several factors were behind the failure to pass the proposed legislation, including lack of funding for implementation of proposed laws and a focus on priority measures identified by the President and Congress itself.