|
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Malig: Honorable absentees
By Jun A. Malig
Cognition
FOR House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles Jr., journalists could play an important role in convincing lawmakers to attend sessions, which frequently adjourn due to lack of quorum.
The legislator, who also chairs the House committee on rules, recently asked reporters covering the Lower Chamber to report congressmen who are habitual absentees. I guess Pampangueños are lucky enough to have representatives who do not have the habit of absenting themselves from House sessions.
Records of the 13th Congress' first regular session from July 26, 2004 to July 7, 2005 with a total of 76 session days show that Pampanga First District Representative Francis "Blueboy" Nepomuceno attended 61 sessions.
He was on official mission during three session days. His 11 absences were made with proper notices, while one was without a notice. The attendances of Second District Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo and Fourth District Representative Anna York Bondoc-Sagum were almost perfect at 75, both with a single absence due to official mission.
Third District Representative Reynaldo Aquino attended 73 sessions. He failed to attend three session days because he was on official mission.
Data of the second regular session are still not available in the website of the House of Representatives. But I believe that the attendance records of our current lawmakers are better than those of some of the previous legislators of the province. I hope that our next representatives in the Lower House would have similar, if not better, attendance records. I also hope that Pampangueño voters would not elect lawmakers who are prospective habitual absentees or those who have records of habitual absenteeism in the past.
Section 69 of the House Rules states: "Every member shall be present in all the sessions of the House unless prevented from doing so by sickness or other unavoidable circumstances duly reported to the House through the Secretary General."
Section 74 of the same rules states that in the absence of a quorum after the roll call, "the members present may compel the attendance of absent members. In all calls of the House, the doors shall be closed. Except those who are excused from attendance in accordance with Section 69 hereof, the absentees, by order of a majority of those present, shall be sent for and arrested wherever they may be found and conducted to the session hall in custody in order to secure their attendance at the session."
"The order shall be executed by the Sergeant-At-Arms and by such officers as the House Speaker may designate. After the presence of the members arrested is secured at the session hall, the Speaker shall determine the conditions for their discharge. Members who voluntarily appear shall be admitted immediately to the session hall and shall report to the Secretary General to have their presence recorded," adds Section 74.
Aside from publishing and reporting in newspapers, radio and television, or even in the journals of the House, lawmakers who are consistently absent from plenary sessions, House leaders also want those frequently absent from committee hearings to lose their committee memberships after three to four consecutive absences. Recovering the salaries and perks of absentee lawmakers was also proposed.
"Many members who religiously attend sessions want sanctions against the absentees. Sanctions will be proposed, discussed and voted upon as soon as we agree on how to deal with the chronic problem of lack of quorum," Nograles told reporters recently.
(June 6, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
