Bill Tracker: Another first from Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines - True to its commitment to keeping Filipinos informed, Philstar.com launches the Bill Tracker, the main feature of the online news site's newly-developed Congress page.

The Congress page features all stories and information related to the legislative branch of the government, composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The page's main feature, Bill Tracker, contains all of the proposed laws submitted by lawmakers from both chambers. Initially, the current Bill Tracker contains only the bills filed by House representatives.

The Bill Tracker also serves as a reference for the voters to determine if their representatives in Congress are fulfilling their promises during the election campaign period.

Browse through the three stages to find out the status of the bills filed by your representatives in Congress.

Within the Bill Tracker, the proposed measures are grouped by stage -- First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading.

First Reading is when a proposed measure's title, number and author's name are read on the floor and then referred to a proper committee.

During second reading, the author delivers a sponsorship speech on the floor and lawmakers would engage in a debate. The bill would then be put into a vote and if it gets the required number of votes, it would be elevated to third reading, where a copy of the bill is distributed to the members and nominal voting is held.

Click on a particular bill to read additional information, including date it was filed, name of the author/authors and the full text of the proposed measure.

Both chambers follow the same procedure. A bill that passed on third reading would be passed on to the other chamber for concurrence and after going through another tedious process, it will be submitted to the Office of the President for signing into law.

Aside from the Bill Tracker, the special page also has a Poll section where the readers are asked to vote for or against a proposed measure. The news site also has a feedback widget, which can also serve as a venue for the readers to raise questions and share suggestions on stories regarding the bills.