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Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Palace to confer with legislators on special session
MANILA -- Malacañang would consult both houses of Congress to determine if a special session is still needed and if an agreement on important bills, like the cheaper medicines bill, can still be reached before the 14th Congress opens in July.
Presidential adviser for political affairs Gabriel Claudio said they would try to meet with members of the Senate and the House of Representatives to get their side on the proposal of some senators for a special session and determine if a quorum could still be established, especially in the House.
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"Otherwise, a special session might be useless," he said.
Claudio said authors of the cheaper medicine bill should also meet, even informally, to consolidate their versions.
"Perhaps some arrangement can be undertaken to get the principal authors of the cheaper medicine bill to sit down soon, even informally, and see if a reconciliation of their varying versions can be achieved," he said.
Senators Francis Pangilinan, Rodolfo Biazon, Richard Gordon, and Sergio Osmeña III called for a special session to settle pending bills particularly those that just need ratification like the bills on cheaper medicines, amendment of the charter of the University of the Philippines (UP), compensation for victims of human rights violations, and the fixed term for the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Senators blamed their counterparts in the House for failing to muster a quorum during the last three days of session last week that resulted in their failure to pass versions of important bills.
Iloilo Representatives Ferjenel Biron and Janette Garin said the Senate should have agreed with their "stronger" version that would put an end to the "drug cartel" in the country, adding that the Senate version would still protect the interests of big pharmaceutical companies.
In the Senate version, authored by Senator Manuel Roxas III, the bill seeks to amend the provisions of the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines pertaining to the pharmaceutical industry and aims to bring down the prices of medicine by allowing the government to make parallel importation of patented medicines from countries where prices are lower. (CPB/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (June 12, 2007 issue)
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