SAYING the campaign for the 2016 elections should not stop incumbent senators and congressmen from going to work, Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said he expects the two chambers of Congress to pass 35 pending bills as soon as lawmakers reconvene on January 19.

Drilon said the proposed Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) is on top of that list. He said the Bangsamoro basic law, which seeks to abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to make way for a new entity, and the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Act are in a separate list due for second reading.

He said, however, that a separate list—containing 32 enrolled bills already approved on final reading by both chambers—is still awaiting the President’s action, having been submitted earlier for signing into law by Mr. Aquino.

According to Senate records, the list of approved bills pending in the President’s table includes the proposed acquisition of road right of way for government infrastructure projects; the SK Reform Act; the Credit Surety Cooperative Fund Act of 2015; a bill expanding benefits and privileges of persons with disability; and a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

As a consolation, Drilon said, at least 44 bills were already approved on third reading by the Senate, including the amendments to the Armed Forces Modernization Law providing for education assistance and benefits to dependents of all military and uniformed personnel.

He also cited a separate bill crafted to extend retirement benefits to barangay officials, tanod, barangay health workers and other employees of barangay units.

Asserting the urgency of mustering a quorum in order to attend to unfinished business, Drilon said the 16th Congress is scheduled to finally adjourn in July. On the part of the senators, Drilon assured that “the Senate will maximize their remaining months in session to focus on important legislation remaining on the priority agenda list.”

He added that the 2016 elections should not distract lawmakers from doing their sworn duty to pass urgently needed laws.

The Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., headed by Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr., said Congress should focus on passing the proposed CMTA, given its significance to efforts of the government to boost trade.

“The CMTA is one of those bills that are very much delayed, and which we need very badly. If we’re serious about wanting to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement [TPP], we should focus on that,” Ortiz-Luis said in a phone interview.

The TPP is a United States-led international trade pact, representing 40 percent of the global economy, now undergoing legal scrubbing by member-countries party to it.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the Philippines remains keen on joining the TPP, once a protocol of accession has been drafted by members and after it has undergone scrutiny.

Despite the DTI’s pronouncement, the delay in implementing domestic reforms—such as the overhaul of the Bureau of Customs (BOC)—is hampering the country’s bid to become part of the TPP.

Under the TPP, member-countries must ensure greater transparency of customs rules and regulations through online publication and setting of reasonable de minimis thresholds for low-value goods.

The CMTA proposes full automation of procedures at the BOC and to increase the de minimis value, or the ceiling for an imported good to be exempted from duty, from the present P10 to P5,000.

The House of Representatives has already passed the measure on third reading last October, but it has yet to be approved by the Senate.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), however, believes that there may not be enough time to pass a “meaningful version” of any economic legislation.

“I hope they can pass the economic bills that [Congress] said they would take action on, but I doubt it if they can pass any because of the time,” MAP President Perry Lim Pe said.

The 16th Congress went on a Christmas break last December 19, and is expected to reconvene on January 19.

The third and last regular session of the 16th Congress is expected to be cut short, as the two chambers will take a break again from February 6 to May 22 for the 2016 national and local elections.

05 January 2016
By Butch Fernandez & Catherine N. Pillas