:raaTHE PHILIPPINE

i
STAR

WEDNESDAY I FEBRUARY 20, 2019 oDlnton

the House of Representatives led by Speaker Clorta"
Macapaqal Arroyo, talks or *reats of overriding a
COMM6NSENSE presiden"tial veto might be next to impossible Mrs
-Arrovo
is now on her thLd and last term as Pampanga
Conqresswoman, coincidirrg with t}e end ot 17th Con-
MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA gresi that is set to wrap up its third and lasi regular
sessions.
Laiarmakers from both chambers are set to report

ln aid of re-election back to Consrcss on Mav 19, or a week after lhe mid-
term electio;s. Frcm thai day of resumption, tle 17lh
Congress has barely three weeks of remaining sessions
efore thev adioumed for the befoie they go on sine die adiournment on June 7.
election'camPaign Period, With a nu;rb;r of administration bills still pending at
both chambeis ;f the iTth various stages of the legislative mills. taking up very
C-onsress Passed a slew of Pro- divisive override of presidential veto measures would
po""? uitt!, a number of which be a shot in the dark.
iarere siened into law on vari- President Duterte has vetoed two Proposed laws that
orrs dat6s bv President Rodrigo would have Geated a trust fund for coconut farmers
Duterte. Bui quite a number also and the coconut industry, citing these might violale
sor vetoeq ov r rc)'uL'rl --""_ I
the countrv's 1987 Constitutjon. In his veto message
3,re to purP6rted constihitional also dated Feb. 14, President Duterte explained the
i"n-',id"t i"J f.t being inconsistent with his adrnin-
- orooosed law as craJted does not reflect the ultimate
'"'e'" s declared Policies'
istration ioj ofaccelerating the full use of Coco LelJ, assels and
.i1f,it *titii-rg, at least two administration- Frnds to benefit marginalized coconut farmers.
*..JfieJ prioriW biJls'got the presidential veloes'
'A";;J;;;Jil* t
sub"rnitted fbr signature of Presiden
Like the Rice Tarrification Law,Sen. Cynthia Villar is
also the principal author and sponsor of lhe Coco Leq
Dutehe ihat staved for a long while al his desk' rrom- bill. She chair! the Senate committee on agriculture
:,ir;';;;h;';i;Gii of peti"tions {or veto Although
where she snonsored and shepherded these bills in
ih"l" ;;" ;i;#ute attempts by af{ected leader.s of Congress. \iiilat, who is up for d-election at the Senatc,
rice farmers' qroups against tle pronosed
ldce larthca-
vowid to re-file the meaiure in the nexl. Congress Io
iii i"i,li, r'?;!i"i?,1"a ,o t-rv rresident Duterte
correct whatever constitutional infirmities tle l,ill hdd
into heedine their veto calls
-'-if't" in ils present form. She, however. rued the vetoed mea-
iii" "tuti f fi.atiory which repl aces quantitative would have allowed 3.5 million Filipiro coconut
rice import restrictions with tariffs, was si8ned mto "ure
farmers and their beneficiaries to directly benefit ftom
wrm
law bv Fresident Duterte last Feb 14 Comodmg the P100-billion coconut lery fund.
hearts
v"t"iilEt-p", r-t'e Prcsidentbroke the bleeding
the lucrative
Althoueh Presidenl Duterte signed d ta)( amnesrJ
.itf."* *-tiiig tt keep the status quo of
ulder RA-No. 11213, the Chief Executive, however,
rice
-- -tradins in our country. exercised his line-item veto of certain provisions that
the veto-appeals won't be gojng to
flo""if'Ef"tt, he found not in conformity with his administration's
naucht as the petitioners can raise and elevate tnem oripinal intent - to lift bank secreqv tor tax fraud. I he
il;%'th" S;;"*e Court (SC) whatever s.upPosed ;u*"4nms5fy A ct of 201 9 gran ts am;esty to peop le w ho
;;1tu6;J't"fit-ities daey claim against the nervly failed to oav correct tale; in 2017 and before. The Iat
siened tuce Tariffication Law' Joining the- p91p9neq tax amt'elw covered the taxable year 2005 and before
{a"rmers' qroups are state employees from the
Natlonal
Like the'budget bill, the Constitution empowers the
;;;A"fh;;'t (NFA) whoireset to question before President to exercise line.item veto on tax and tariff bills.
th"SC the of Republic Act (RA) 11203' or the President Duterte signed the tax amnesty law also
ljiU"titization law. The NFA Employees As-
i.i." lt"oott";ctiine on Feb. 14 but vetoed some items, including a provision
sociation leaders claimed the newly signed law
would
that would have gra,rted general amnesty forall unpaid
mean the removal of thousands of emPloyees as
weu
intemal revenuelaxes. "Civen these. I ask Congress to
as the main functions of the state agenry-' pass anolher general tax amnesty bill that includes the
While lhere is no achial Petition yet Iodged berore iiftins of bank secrecy for fraud cases. the inclusion o{
seek oul
the Hieh Court, t}ere is still an oPtion-to js' ar au"l.omatic exchange of in{ormation and safeguards
Conedss overide tlre presidential veto l hat rl they to ensure th a t asse t oi net wo rth decl arati ons a re tru th-
;;i8';;;;th;;quired votes to do so civen the his- fuI," the President stdted in h.is veto message.
tory of our Past Congress- Despite these vetoed bills, we have not heard much
es,'there has never been As of this writinP at vehemint oblections from members of the lTth Con-
anv Dresidential veto that gress, majority of whom are now busy in tJre campaign
wis'overridden. So that least two administra- irail either {oi re-election or rurLning {or other elective
avenue is a far-fetched tion-certified Pdority positions. ls il. because they were only too happy that
possibility. bills got the Presiden- President Duterte signed RA 11027 or the "Act Provid-
' With a large Pro-ad- tial vetoes. ine {or Reasonable Rates for Political Advertisements,
ministration membdrs at Aftendine for this Pumose Section 11 of RA \o. c00o,
olherwisE Knor,rm as tfie'Fair Elechon Act'."
\\ PAqt -cl il Also signed on Valentine's Day, the "cheaper po-
litical ads; Iaw gave discounted rales for bona fide
political candidates and political parties - 50 percent
ior television and 40 perient for iadio while $e rate
for orint was retained at 10 percent. The rales would
be #plied based on the ar.erige of the published rates
the midia outleg have charged commercial ad vertisers
in *re last tlree vears prior to an election.
Politicjans have bedn decrying what they claim are
prohibitive costs of placing poLitical advertisements
in TV, radio and print. In aid bf re-election comes this
shameless legislation.