Monday, March 20, 2006
Debates in Senate shelve urgent bills
By Antonio M. Ajero
HOUSE Majority Leader Prospero Nograles complained there are now more than "30 pieces of legislation of great importance" that are gathering dust in the Senate.
The President has certified urgent some of the bills, Nograles said.
"If only the Senate leadership could stop spending so much time on investigations and give more time and attention to their mandate, which is legislation, bills like the proposed Tax Amnesty Law, the Consolidated Investment Incentives Code, the Anti-Smuggling Act of 2005, Bio-ethanol Bill, Condonation of Penalties for Low Cost Housing, and other reform-oriented measures would be enacted into laws faster," he said.
Nograles provided media outlets with a list of the 30 bills approved by the House but not yet touched by the Senate.
"While we respect and concede the fact that these Senate investigations are really necessary if the objective is to craft laws out of the lessons that we learn from these probes, it is also lamentable that these investigations have also become a venue to attack the Arroyo Administration," he said.
House Deputy Majority Leader Rodolfo Antonino of Nueva Ecija echoed Nograles's concern.
Antonio said it is very ironic that many senators have been criticizing the Arroyo administration of its alleged effort to muzzle press freedom, but the Senate has yet to act on the proposed measure, which would exempt publishers, editors or reporters of any publication from revealing sources of information.
He said his bill (House Bill 4835), which the House passed on December 22, 2005, would expand the protection being enjoyed by the media from being compelled into revealing their sources.
"I find it very ironic that while our senators are making too much noise on the alleged effort of the government to curtail press freedom in the country, they are not acting on this particular measure, which would further strengthen freedom," Antonino said.
Antonio said government reforms would not be achieved with these endless investigations in the Senate that end up without any real results.
Reforms, he added, could only be achieved if the Senate focuses its attention in approving measures that will have a great impact on the welfare of the entire nation.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (March 20, 2006 issue)
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