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REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESQuezon City, Metro Manila

FIFTEENTH CONGRESSSecond Regular Session

Joint Resolution No. 30

Introduced by Kabataan Partylist Representative RAYMOND V. PALATINO

RESOLUTIONSTRONGLY URGING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ANDOF THE SENATE TO CONDUCT DAILY PLENARY SESSIONS ON MONDAYSTHROUGH THURSDAYS DURING REGULAR SESSION PERIODS IN ORDER TOADDRESS MORE CONCERNS AND ISSUES OF THE PEOPLE THROUGHLEGISLATIVE WORK AND TO REGULARLY DISCLOSE TO THE PUBLIC THEATTENDANCE RECORDS OF LEGISLATORS DURING COMMITTEE HEARINGS INTHE NAME OF TRANSPARENCY

WHEREAS , Article VI Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution states that the legislativepower shall be vested in the Congress of the Philippines, which shall consist of a Senate anda House of Representatives;

WHEREAS , Article VI Section 1 of the same mandates that Congress shall conveneonce every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session, unless a different date isfixed by law, and shall continue to be in session for such number of days as it may determineuntil 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;

WHEREAS, Rule XI, Section 69 of the Rules of the House states that daily sessionsshall commence at four o'clock in the afternoon on Mondays through Thursdays and at teno'clock in the morning on Fridays unless the House decides otherwise;

WHEREAS, Rule XIV Section 40 of the Rules of the Senate stipulates that theSenate shall meet in session at three o'clock in the afternoon on weekdays, except when theSenate decides otherwise;

WHEREAS, it has been observed that meeting the quorum requirement is a dailyproblem, with the number of House members already reaching almost 300. The lack ofquorum is often cited as the primary reason for the failure of the House of Representatives todeliberate and pass on time the governments priority legislative agenda and other sociallyimportant legislative measures. Because of limited time, discussion of bills categorized aspriority measures by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council becomesshortened while voting is often done in haste;

WHEREAS , aside from addressing the quorum problem, Congress can becomemore productive by extending the session days and shortening the recess period. At present,Congress sessions take place from Mondays to Wednesdays only, averaging at almost threehours per session;

WHEREAS, the principal duty of the members of the House of Representatives

and the Senate is to address the needs of district and partylist constituencies through

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responsive legislative work, which require more work in their respective offices inMetro Manila. As a compromise, Congress can hold sessions until Thursdays so thatFridays can be devoted for district work, while legislative consultations can be doneduring Congress breaks;

WHEREAS , in drafting the calendar for the third regular session of the 15thCongress, the Senate and the House should seriously consider a longer time for

plenary sessions. If legislators insist on holding sessions for three times a week only,then another option is to reduce Congress breaks;

WHEREAS, there are only 84 session days in the current second regularsession calendar as opposed to the 98 days during adjournment;

WHEREAS, it has also been observed that only few committee meetings are able tomuster a quorum. Committee work should be given more importance as it is equally vital toplenary participation. It is during these committee hearings that we hear the position,concerns and comments of concerned stakeholders to legislative proposals. Committeehearings are ripe venues for our citizens to engage our lawmakers on variousconcerns, a necessary component of democratic politics;

WHEREAS, active participation in the committee deliberations is crucial toimprove the quality of legislation in the country. Therefore, House Members must becompelled to attend both the plenary and committee sessions;

WHEREAS, in the same vein that plenary attendance is being disclosed to thepublic, it should also be mandatory to publish the attendance of members of Congressduring committee hearings in the name of transparency;

WHEREAS , Rule IX Section 36 of the Rules of the House of Representativesprovides that every member of a committee shall be present in all the committee meetingsand public hearings unless prevented from doing so by sickness and unavoidablecircumstances duly reported to the concerned committee through the Committee Secretary. AMember of a committee who incurs three consecutive unexplained absences within aregularly session shall forfeit membership in that commmitee;

WHEREAS , Rule XI Section 23 of the Rules of the Senate provides that unexplained

absences in five successive committee meetings may operate to relinquish regularmembership therein;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that theHouse of Representatives and the Senate conduct daily plenary sessions on Mondaysthrough Thursdays during regular session periods in order to address more concernsand issues of the people through legislative work;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the House ofRepresentatives and the Senate regularly disclose to the public the attendancerecords of legislators during committee proceedings in the name of transparency.

Adopted,

HON. RAYMOND V. PALATINORepresentative, Kabataan Partylist

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