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By Efren L. Danao, Senior
Reporter
Senator Francis Escudero is the
runaway leader among Senate committee chairmen in the number of
reports approved for plenary session before the Lenten recess.
He is followed by Sen. Pia
Cayetano and Sen. Edgardo Angara.
The three are collectively
responsible for 19 of the 42 committee reports that have either
undergone plenary debates or calendared for sponsorship.
Escudero has prepared 11
committee reports: nine for the Committee on Justice, and two for
the Committee on Ways and Means.
Cayetano has approved five
committee reports, three for the Committee on Health and two for the
Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.
Angara has three for the
Committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies, and one
for the Committee on Agriculture.
A committee report synthesizes
the various bills on a particular subject referred to a committee. A
measure is sometimes referred jointly to two or three committees in
which case, a report is signed by all two or three.
The Manila Times, however,
considered only the output of the primary committees in determining
the most productive chairmen.
The Senate has 36 committees, but
only 23 members to head them. The Senate President does not head any
committee, making it possible for some senators to head two or even
three committees.
Not all committees, however, are
as active as those headed by Escudero, Cayetano and Angara as shown
by their output.
Sen. Jamby Madrigal, for
instance, has not reported out any bill primarily referred to the
three committees that she heads.
The committee reports approved by
the Committee on Justice as primary committee are those on the
expansion of judiciary retirement benefits, presentation of suspects
in press conference, good conduct time allowance for prisoners, cell
phone theft, compensation of human rights victims, forfeiture law,
anti-torture act, amending the law on prostitution, and
reappointment ban on regular Judicial and Bar Council members who
have retired.
As chairman of Ways and Means,
Escudero reported out the consolidated bill on the expansion of the
structure of the Court of Tax Appeals and the review of revenue
regulations on percentage tax of domestic carriers.
Escudero has already completed
hearings on several revenue reform measures, but he is not reporting
them out until the House transmits to the Senate its counterpart
measures.
Under the Constitution, all
revenue measures should emanate from the House.
Meanwhile, as chairman of the
Senate Committee on Health, Cayetano has reported out the
consolidated bills on amendments to the Breastfeeding Act, the
Health Workers Day, and the Quality and Affordable Medicine Act.
For the Committee on Environment
and Natural Resources, she reported out the proposed La Mesa
Watershed Reservation Act and on environmental-awareness education.
All four reports approved by the
committees headed by Angara involved priority bills as endorsed by
the Senate leadership, the business community and Malacaņang.
These are the extension of the
Agriculture Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, now a law (Republic
Act 9496) for the Committee on Agriculture, and the Credit
Information Act, the Pre-Need Code, and the Personal Equity
Retirement Act.
The following senators have also
approved three committee reports each: Sen. Rodolfo Biazon,
Committee on National Defense; Sen. Richard Gordon, Committee on
Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws; and Sen.
Benigno Aquino 3rd, Committee on Local Governments.
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