Abella, Chrysalina Ma. Harrieth B.

PL1A

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE

"THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNANCESYSTEM: AN INQUIRY PROJECT"

I. introduction

II. constitution, legal mandates- laws, RA,

III. leadership and membership

IV. issues challenges trends and problems encountered

V. programs and proj. laws policies accomplishment

VI. policy recommendation/suggestion

VII. synthesis/reflection

VIII. Bibliography

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE
“THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNANCE SYSTEM: AN INQUIRY PROJECT

What does Congress do?

Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. It makes the laws needed to govern,
determines which government agencies and programs will be created, and approves all funds spent by the
government. Congress has specific powers: to collect taxes, raise armies, declare war, regulate
commerce, and provide for the general welfare. It can also act more generally by passing any law
necessary to execute the powers granted to it by the Constitution. Congress enacts legislation but cannot
implement it. That's left to the executive branch. But Congress does retain oversight power and may
investigate how the executive branch has administered the programs or laws Congress has approved.

From: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_congress.htm

The Constitutional Mandate

The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, as in past constitutions, vested the power of government on the
legislative, executive, and the judiciary.

The Legislative Power is vested in the Congress of the Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a
House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people by the provision on initiative and
referendum.

The Executive Power is vested in the President of the Philippines, and;

The Judicial Power is vested in one Supreme Court and in such lower courts as may be established by law.

The Constitution provides that the House of Representatives shall be composed of not more than two
hundred and fifty (250) members, unless otherwise fixed by law, who shall be elected from legislative
districts apportioned among the provinces, cities, and the Metropolitan Manila area in accordance with the
number of their respective inhabitants, and on the basis of a uniform and progressive ratio, and those who,
as provided by law, shall be elected through a party-list system of registered national, regional, and sectoral
parties or organizations. The party-list representatives shall constitute twenty per cent (20%) of the total
number of representatives including those under the party list.

A Member of the House of Representatives should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines and, on the
day of the election, is at least twenty-five (25) years of age, able to read and write, and, except the party list
representatives, a registered voter in the district in which he shall be elected, and a resident thereof for a
period of not less than one year immediately proceeding the day of the election.

The members of the house of Representatives shall be elected for a term of three years,
and shall serve for no more than three consecutive terms.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/about/

THE PHILIPPINES' 1987 CONSTITUTION

The Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for
its regular session, unless a different date is fixed by law, and shall continue to
be in session for such number of days as it may determine until thirty days
before the opening of its next regular session, exclusive of Saturdays,
Sundays, and legal holidays. The President may call a special session at any
time.

The Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its
Speaker, by a majority vote of all its respective members.

Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/leaders.php?congress=15

Leadership Information
On the fourth Monday of July of every year, the two Houses of Congress
convene for their regular session. Signifying the start of another year of law
making, the opening of Congress is an important event, marked by the
President´s State of the Nation Address.

The only officers of Congress required by the 1987 Constitution are the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Both the Senate President and the House Speaker are elected by a majority
vote of all the members of their respective Houses. However, as provided in
the Constitution, each House shall choose such other officers it may deem
necessary for the proper operation of the institution. It is important to
remember that Congress can only be properly organized once the officers for
both houses have been chosen.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/leaders.php?congress=15

About the Speaker

 FELICIANO "Sonny"
BELMONTE, JR.
Speaker of the House of Representatives (2010 - Present)

Mayor of Quezon City, 2001-2010

Speaker of the House of Representatives, 2001
Congressman, 4th District of Quezon City, 1992-2001

Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. is the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.

In May 2010, he was elected Congressman, representing the Fourth District of

Quezon City, under the Liberal Party.

From June 2001 to June 2010, Belmonte was Mayor of Quezon City, during
which time he was selected as the Most Outstanding Mayor of the Philippines
by the Local Government Leadership Awards.

A Three-term Congressman

1992 marked Belmonote's first stint as congressman. Before he became

mayor, Belmonte was elected representative of the 4th Congressional District
of Quezon City, and held the position for three (3) consecutive terms. Belmonte
was Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2001, and also served as
House Minority Leader. In his first two terms, he was the Vice Chairman of the
Committee on Appropriations.

During his term as Congressman, he authored and co-authored several major

bills, among them:

• The General Appropriations Act,

• The Act Providing for a Dual System of Education,
• The Act Creating the Metropolitan Manila Development
Authority, and
• The Salary Standardization Law.

Although largely concerned with budget and financial matters, Belmonte never
forgot the low-salaried employees, and was instrumental in the passage of the
Second Salary Standardization Law, which corrected the gross inequities of
SSL 1. He also pushed for the continued implementation of the Personal
Economic Relief Alliance (PERA) for low-salaried government personnel.

A CEO Successful at Financial Turnarounds

His reputation for successfully turning around financial struggling government

corporations into viable and highly profitable enterprises was highlighted in the
period from 1986 to 2001, when Philippine President Corazon Aquino
appointed him President and General Manager of the Government Service and
Insurance System (GSIS)and the Manila Hotel, and he Chairman of the
National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines.

He also represented the government as Member of the Board of Directors of

the San Miguel Corporation (SMC), and the Philippine Long Distance and
Telecommunications Company (PLDT). More importantly, he assumed the
position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the Philippine Airlines,
which was then wholly owned by the Philippine government. All these were
among the Top 10 corporations in the country.

A Three-term Mayor of Quezon City

As Mayor of Quezon City, his nine years of prudent fiscal management,

aggressive tax management strategies, as well as increasing efficiency and
growing discipline in the management, and use of City resources has made
Quezon City the most competitive city of Metro Manila, and second in the
Philippines today. These are rankings made by businessmen in the Philippines
in studies of the Asian Institute of Management, in cooperation with
international agencies.

Quezon City was cited for the dynamism of its local economy, the quality of life
of its residents, and the responsiveness of the local government in addressing
business needs, among others.

In 2007, Quezon City was ranked No. 7 Asian City of the Future, based on a
survey commissioned by the London Financial Times through a consultancy
based in Singapore.

In a 2008 Tholons special report on global services, Quezon City ranked as the
number 21 emerging global outsourcing city, the highest among all nine new
entrants.

Belmonte has guided Quezon City to pioneer in many areas:

• First to computerize revenue collection and assessment

function.
• First to grant to barangays (community-level local
government unit), full-fiscal control over their share of real
property tax collections.
• First LGU to develop an extensive and continuous training
curriculum for barangay leaders.
• First to institutionalize Citywide citizen participation in
governance thru the City Development Council.
• First Urban Center to implement the Solid Waste
Management Act.
 • First to use Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as
biogas-reduction strategy, and revenue generation mechanism
from waste.
• First to operate the Biogas Emission Reduction Project as
the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project in solid
waster management in the Philippines, and in Southeast Asia.
• First LGU to manage an advanced computer training
center.
• First to enact a Gender and Development Code for the
protection of women and children.

Recent Awards and Citations

Belmonte's governance of Quezon City has been recognized through the

following prominent awards:

• 2008 Galing Pook Award for the Payatas Dumpsite

Transformation Project (Galing Pook Foundation)
• 2005 CEO Excel Award in Communications Leadership for
Government
• 2005 Galing Pook Award for Outstanding Government
Program, Molave Youth Home (Galing Pook Foundation)
• 2003 Galing Pook Award for Effective Fiscal Management
(Galing Pook Foundation)
• "Most business-friendly city" awardee for 2003, 2004, and
Hall of Famer in 2005 (Philippine Chamber of Commerce and
Industry
• 2003 Livable Community Award (Metrobank Foundation)
• 2003 Kabalikat sa Pabahay Award for the Local
Government Unit with the Most Number of Community Mortgage
Programs (Housing and Urban Development Coordinating
Council)

He has also received the following personal recognition:

• 2003 Most Outstanding City Mayor (Local Government

Leadership Awards)
• Huwarang Pilipino Awardee for Local Governance
(Huwarang Pilipino Foundation)
• CEO Excel Awards for Communications Excellence in the
Government Sector, 2006
• Outstanding Filipino in Government Service of the
Philippine Jaycees, and Insular Life Philippines, 2002
• Outstanding Congressman of the 9th, 10th, and 11th
Congress
• Gintong Ama Awardee 1993
• Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club of Manila
• Model Filipino Awardee of the World Family Institute, 1994
• Outstanding Alumni, Lyceum of the Philippines
• Benedictine Centennial Awardee, San Beda College

Before joining government, he practiced law and engaged in civic activities.

At the age of 16, he started working as a reporter for a national newspaper.

 In 1976, he was World President of Jaycess (JCI) International. He was also a
three-time delegate of the Philippines to the International Labor Organization.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/leaders.php?congress=15&who=speaker

Majority Leader Neptali 'Boyet' M. GONZALES II

The Majority Leader is elected in a party caucus of the majority ruling party. His
primary function, aside from being the spokesman of the majority party, is to
direct the deliberations on the floor.

In the present set-up of the House, the Majority Leader is concurrently the
Chairman of the Committee on Rules. As such, all matters relevant to the
Rules of the House, specifically the calendar of bills, preparation of Order of
Business and Calendar of Business are within his responsibilities.

District: Lone District, Mandaluyong City

Member: 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th and 15th Congresses
Date of Birth: 29 August 1954
Profession: Lawyer
School/s Attended: Far Eastern University; Ateneo de Manila University
Affiliation/s: Integrated Bar of the Philippines; Rotary Club of Mandaluyong
Spouse: Alexandria P. Gonzales

Majority Leader Neptali M. Gonzales was a practicing lawyer before he got

elected in 1995 as representative of Mandaluyong's lone district. On his first
term, he already served as Deputy Majority Leader and was one of the
neophyte lawmakers that time to have the most number of bills enacted into
law. He eventually became Majority Leader in the 11th and 12th Congresses.
The people of Mandaluyong elected him City Mayor after his term in the House
ended in 2004.

Among the measures he authored were: RA 8191, prescribing measures for

the prevention and control of diabetes mellitus in the Philippines; RA 8249,
defining the jurisdiction of the Sandiganbayan; RA 8424, amending the
National Internal Revenue Code; RA 8365, converting the Rizal Technological
Colleges into a state university; RA 8497, establishing the Mandaluyong
Science High School; and RA 9184 or the E-Procurement Law.

In the 14th Congress, he has proudly sponsored measures that created

integrated schools in his district to serve its growing secondary education
population. He also filed a Resolution that helped local governments curb the
high cost of water utilities for non-revenue offices or agencies like hospitals,
city/municipal jails, police stations, and public schools. This objective was
made possible by encouraging the MWSS to reclassify rates for the said
agencies, resulting to a 30 percent discount on their water bills.

Minority Leader Edcel C. LAGMAN

The Minority Leader is the acknowledged spokesman of the minority party in

the House. But it does not necessarily follow that he is also the leader of the
party because the minority party in the House may be composed of one or
more political groupings.

Like the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader is elected in party caucus of all
Members of the House in the minority party. He is an ex-officio member of all
standing Committees.

District: 1st District, Albay

Member: 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th and 15th Congresses
Date of Birth: 1 May 1942
Profession: Lawyer
School/s Attended: University of the Philippines-Diliman
Affiliation/s: Integrated Bar of the Philippines; Philippine Trial Lawyers
Association; Philippine Collegian Alumni Editors Foundation; Rotary Club of
South Triangle; Alpha Phi Beta Chancery
Citations: Outstanding Congressman (1987-1998 & 2004-2008)
Spouse: Ma. Cielo Burce-Lagman

Minority Leader Edcel Lagman's exceptional performance in Congress is best

attested by his being chosen Outstanding Congressman every year from 1987
to 1998 and 2004 to 2008 by the Philippine Free Press and Consumers
Welfare Foundation of the Philippines.

He and his law firm, Lagman, Lagman and Mones, are labor rights
advocates.His principal authorship and steering of the passage of the
extension of the Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) component of the
Agrarian Reform Program (RA 9700) stands as his remarkable feat as a
legislator. This law sustains the empowerment of the farmers in the
continuation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657) and the
first extension of LAD (RA 8532), both of which he principally authored.

In his five terms as Representative of the 1st District of Albay, he initiated

projects that immensely helped improve the lives of his constituents. During the
14th Congress, he supported the improvement of technical-vocational and
tertiary education and prioritized countryside farm-to-market roads and
irrigation projects to help farmers increase food production and their income.
FYI : Sergio Suico Osmeña was the first Speaker of the First Philippine Assembly. Elected in 1907 at the
age of 29, Osmeña is the youngest ever to become Speaker, and the longest to have held the Speakership.
He was Speaker from 1907 to 1922, for a total of 15 years.

The congressmen’s views on charter change.

More solons air view on charter change debate

17 January 2011 10:23:44 AM

Writer: Rowena B. Bundang, MRS-PRIB

More House members gave their views on the current issue to start the debate
on charter change now in light of President Aquino's avowed disinterest in
running for office in 2016.

House Assistant Majority leader Mylene Garcia-

Albano (2nd District, Davao City), said debate is part of the duty of elected
members of Congress in resolving a particular issue or proposal.

"It's a healthy sign of democracy in our country especially when

representatives of the people like us debate and don't get shot," said Garcia-
Albano.

Garcia-Albano, however, stressed that as to whether the chacha discussions

or debate will be given priority is another consideration.

"That will depend on the House leadership and the party in power," Garcia-
Albano said.

Rep. Rodolfo Valencia (1st District, Oriental Mindoro), chairman of the House
Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said charter change
proponents should first win the support of President Aquino to ensure the
success of their bid.
 "They should first convince the President to support
charter change otherwise they should not venture into it. The President's
support is important since the realization of chacha entails budget and our
utmost attention in Congress," said Valencia.

Valencia said convincing the President to back chacha would ensure strong
support for it in the House where there is an overwhelming support of
lawmakers for Mr. Aquino's leadership.

Valencia explained that the country has numerous problems like

unemployment, power supply, agrarian and agriculture concerns among
others, which could be sidelined if the chacha debates push through.

"Chacha had been the objective of public suspicion because of the perceived
vested interests of some politicians," Valencia said.

Rep. Hermilando Mandanas (2nd District, Batangas),

chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, said he respects the
constitutional right of any member of Congress to file proposals to amend the
Constitution.

In the 14th Congress, Mandanas himself filed three House Resolutions for
amending specific provisions of the Constitution.

Under House Resolution 548, Mandanas is seeking to promote efficiency in

governance by uniting the executive and legislative functions of government,
amending Section 13, Article VI and Section 16, Article VII of the Constitution.

House Resolution 549 seeks to strengthen local autonomy by creating more

autonomous regions, amending Sections 1 and 15, Article X of the
Constitution; and

House Resolution 550 wants to change the term of office of local elective
officials and members of the House of Representatives from 3 to 4 years and
synchronizing local and national elections, amending Sec. 7, Art. VI ; Sec.8,
Art. X and Sec. 2, Art XVIII of the 1987 Constitution.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=4746&key=charter change

Solons support congressional debates on charter change

12 January 2011 09:55:28 AM

Writer: Rowena B. Bundang, MRS-PRIB
House members today expressed support for a legislative discussion of
proposals to amend the 1987 Constitution.

House Deputy Speaker Ma. Isabelle Climaco

said charter change has been an issue of discussion and any debate or
discussion on it in the House will be part of the legislative process.

"Debates are part of the legislative process. We will also await the Legislative
Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) outputs," said Climaco.

Climaco said the congressional debate on chacha will have to be referred first
to the appropriate committee which is the House Committee on Constitutional
Amendments. "Let them handle the discussions in the committee. Outputs are
essential."

Rep. Simeon Datumanong (2nd District, Maguindanao)

said he supports move to amend the Constitution specially the economic
provisions and for political reform to give representations in the Senate.

Reacting to the Palace statement that there are more pressing issues than
chacha at this time, Datumanong urged the administration to consider the long-
term benefits of charter amendment.

"We hope the administration will consider the long range of need of the country
instead of just the present situation," said Datumanong, a co-author of House
Joint Resolution 0003 which calls for a constitutional convention to propose
amendments to, or revision of, the 1987 Constitution. The measure was
referred to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments last July 27, 2010.

Rep. Pedro Romualdo (Lone District, Camiguin),

chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments in the 10th
and 11th Congresses, expressed hope that chacha would be given a chance
this time.

"All our initiatives will be useless again, unless the President shows political will
to support chacha. It's really up to him. It's quite disappointing that chacha was
 not given a chance despite its numerous benefits and after so many public
hearings conducted on it. We hope chacha will be given a chance this time,"
Romualdo said.

Romualdo also said that it will be the same businessmen who will control the
country's economy unless the restrictive economic provisions in the
Constitution are amended now.

From: http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=4736&key=charter change