Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Danny opts to adopt old council house rules By Grace L. Plata
IF CITY Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang has his way, he would opt for re-adopting the house rules of the 12th and 13th Council.
Dayanghirang said the legislative process was simpler before the new set of rules, which was patterned after that of the Congress, was introduced during the 14th council.
Under the old house rules, resolutions or ordinances proposed by a council member or a committee are immediately referred to the concerned committee for hearings. Upon the completion of the committee report, complete with recommendations, the proposal is then proposed for inclusion in the session agenda.
"After the committee report has been presented, the questioning follows but after all the queries have been raised and dealt with, the body can immediately vote on the matter if it wants to," Dayanghirang said.
Under the current rules, however, a resolution or ordinance has to pass through three readings for approval. After the first reading, the matter is referred to the concerned committee.
After the hearings, the committee report is presented to the body for approval. Then the proposal is presented for second reading in which the queries of the council members are answered and the matter is debated upon.
Should the proposal pass second reading, it is endorsed to the committee on rules, privileges, laws and ordinances for review should there be legal infirmities. Only then can the matter be calendared for third reading.
According to Dayanghirang, this is a long and tedious process that can be changed if the council opts to.
But for now, Dayanghirang said he will just have to propose amendments to the current house rules.
On Tuesday, he is set to propose before the body to amend section 82, Paragraph 1 of the Revised Rules of the City Council which states that the committee on rules shall review ordinances approved on 2nd reading before it can be included in the 3rd reading.
Dayanghirang wants to have it specified that the committee on rules, after its review, shall in turn submit the same for the concurrence of the body before its inclusion in the agenda.
This provision, according to Dayanghirang, needs to be spelled out as it had become a cause of long debates and delays during the 14th Council.
