House, Senate leaders forge compromise on chacha for federalism

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez today bared that congressional leaders have forged an agreement Wednesday night to shift their attention from the more contentious issues on charter change and to instead try to first reach a consensus on the general features of the federal government being envisioned.

The House and the Senate have taken opposing views on the procedure of proposing amendments to the 1987 Constitution for a shift to a federal form of government.

In a radio interview, Alvarez bared that the compromise was reached during his meeting Wednesday with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, III. Also present during the meeting were House Majority Floor Leader Rodolfo Farinas and Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III.

“Napagkasunduan namin na saka na lang namin pag-uusapan kung papano ang botohan. Mag-uusap muna kami sa detalye, halimbawa ‘yung structure nung government, hanggang mabuo namin ‘yung Saligang Batas. Pagkatapos, kapag naman natapos kami ay it will not make any difference anymore if we vote separately or jointly,” Alvarez said.

Asked if there was also a consensus on the need to shift to a federal form of government Alvarez replied, “Yes, po, tama po ‘yun.” The meeting, according to Alvarez, was cordial.

“Well, so far, maganda naman ‘yung naging usapan namin at ‘yun, mahinahon naman lahat kami at napag-usapan nga kung ano yung maganda sa bayan, ay ‘yun ang aming prayoridad,” Alvarez said.

While Alvarez agreed that the agreement reached during the meeting is expected to tone down the rhetoric exchanged by House leaders and the Senate, he clarified that there is really no animosity between the two chambers.

“Actually ‘yung word war para sa media yun, para naman medyo masaya tayo,” Alvarez said.

However, Alvarez said a more detailed discussion of proposed features of the new federal form of government would be discussed in subsequent meetings of the congressional leaders, which would likely take place next week.

“May mga tinitingnan tayong proseso dito, kagaya halimbawa ‘yung modelo ng Amerika: iyan ‘yung federal bicameral. Yun namang modelo ng Germany yata, ‘yun naman federal pero unicameral. So pinag-aaralan natin kung saan tayo dito magkakasundo,” Alvarez said.

He said that while the administration party, Partido Demokratikong Pilipino, is advocating for a shift to a parliamentary form of government it is not endorsing a particular structure of the government.

But in general, Alvarez said the new government structure must be simpler than the current unitary form of government to enable it to act promptly and address the issues facing the nation.

“Marami talagang mali doon sa structure. Kaya nga kailangan natin baguhin ang ating Saligang Batas,” Alvarez said.

It is also necessary, according to Alvarez to keep the new constitution for a federal government simple and easily understandable by the common citizens.

“Yung mga gumawa niyan sinasabi nila, we have the best Constitution in the world now.  Pambihira naman. Hello?” Alvarez said.

Once both chambers of Congress reach a consensus on the structure of the proposed federal government, Alvarez expects the rest of the discussions for charter change between the House and the Senate to flow more smoothly.

As much as possible, Alvarez said the leadership of the two chambers would strive to reach an agreement on contentious issues to avert the need for the Supreme Court to intervene, which would only delay the process of charter amendments.

“Hangga’t maari ay iiwasan,” Alvarez said.

#onehouseforchange

TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP CREATED FOR THE PROPOSED BIGGER MOTORCYCLE PLATE NUMBERS

The technical working group was created during the joint hearing of The Committee on Transportation with the Committee on Public Order to tackle the details of the proposed HB No. 5381 of Congressman Victor Yap, HB No. 5714 of Congressman Ferdinand Hernandez and HB No. 5839 of Congressman Luis Raymund Villafuerte which enforces the installation of bigger front and rear license plates for motorcycles.

Lone District of Muntinlupa City Congressman Ruffy Biazon was designated by the committee chairman to head the technical working group after sharing his experiences and knowledge on the issue being a motorcycle rider himself.

The purpose of the said bills is to boost the effort and intensify the campaign of the government with the help of the lawmakers particularly in addressing the rampant use of motorcycles in committing crimes.

Based on the data released by Philippine National Police in 2013, there were more than 3,000 cases of crimes committed in metro manila alone using motorcycles as the most convenient getaway vehicle.

Crafting this kind of mechanism will be a great deterrent since it would help our law enforcers to easily identify and apprehend suspects and on the other hand making it difficult for the part of criminals to hide their identities thus leading to a reduced motorcycle crime rate.

"I recognize the concern of my fellow lawmakers in proposing measures to address the problem of crimes perpetrated by persons using motorcycles. Indeed, government has the duty to respond to this problem. We will ensure that in the crafting of a law preventing and penalizing the use of motorcycles in crimes , the TWG will take into consideration the position of all stakeholders and balance the interests with the welfare of the general public in mind" Congressman Biazon said.

Same version of the said proposed bill has already been passed on its 3rd reading in the senate which is authored by Senator Tito Sotto and Senator Dick Gordon.

THE HONORABLE RON P. SALO

KABAYAN Party-list

Assistant Majority Leader

KABAYAN SOLONS REQUEST PRESIDENT DUTERTE TO CERTIFY AS URGENT THE BILL TRANSFERRING SEAT OF GOVERNMENT TO DAVAO CITY

As Member of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments, I push for the transfer of the seat of government from Manila to Davao City in Mindanao. With Mindanao emerging as the new economic and social powerhouse of the Philippines, it would be most opportune that the new seat of the federal government be in Davao City.

With the ongoing discussion on the draft federal constitution, this advocacy for Davao City as the political capital of a Federal Philippines is timely and relevant.

Fellow KABAYAN Representative Ciriaco Calalang and I hope President Rodrigo Roa Duterte will certify as urgent our new bill entitled Philippine Capital Relocation Act of 2018 or House Bill No. 6968. Sought to be built in Davao City is a National Government Center which shall be the new location of the following offices: Presidential Palace; Vice-Presidential Palace; Senate; House of Representatives; Supreme Court; Constitutional Offices; and National offices of government agencies.

The KABAYAN Party-list is strongly pushing for this transfer of the seat of government to Mindanao, to Davao in particular, to enable the national government to unequivocably give substance to what the House Constitutional Amendments Committee properly referred to as dispersal of resources and power away from Imperial Manila and to the rest of the country.

Relocating and separating the seat of government from other centers is followed by the two economic superpowers: The United States of America (USA) and China. In the USA, Washington D.C. is the country’s political capital, while New York is its financial capital. In China, Beijing is the country’s political capital, while Shanghai is its financial capital. 

Relocating the seat of government and separating it from the financial centers will address the destructive effects of traffic in Metro-Manila. This will prevent heavy losses in businesses and will significantly lessen travel time which can be spent for other productive activities.

Transferring the seat of government will allow us to plan well the new government center where our people will go to just one place when they deal with the government akin to a one-stop shop.

Transferring the seat of government also means that it will prevent the further rise in population due to unmitigated migration, congestion and urban blight which hamper further development. It will also help arrest the continued rise of prices both in housing and other properties for sale and for rent. (END)

NEWS Release

25 January 2018

DOTr pressed to submit final report on safety controller of MRT3 trains

THE House committee on good government and public accountability  pressed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to submit its final report on the vehicle logic units (VLUs) that manages the safety features of the trains of the Metro Manila Transit Line 3 (MRT3).

This developed as the committee resumed its inquiry into the alleged P4 million purchase and installation of fake train safety equipment for the MRT3, which is under the direct supervision of the DOTr.

During the hearing, Rep. Jericho Nograles asked the DOTr to submit to the committee as soon as possible its final presentation on the status of the VLUs of MRT3.

Earlier, the lawmaker alleged that based on his information only one of the 73 trains of MRT has the original VLU and the rest were replaced with fake, or unauthorized and mismatched VLUs.

“This issue must be resolved immediately,” said committee chairman Rep. Johnny Pimentel, adding the DOTr report is crucial in the effort to bring normalcy in the MRT3 operations for the benefit and safety of the riding public and help as well address the issue of traffic in Metro Manila.

MRT3 has been plagued with frequent stoppages often blamed for faulty equipment.

Nograles also maintained that the supplier of the VLUs, which he earlier identified as Diamond Pearl Development and Marketing Corp., has no valid contract because the authorized signatory, who was supposed to be then DOTC Secretary Emilio Abaya, did not sign the contract at all.

“He (Abaya) illegally allowed then Undersecretary for Operations Edwin Lopez to sign the contract in his behalf which is contrary to law,” said Nograles.

DOTr Undersecretary for Rails Timothy John Batan told the committee that is important for any replacement VLUs to come from its original supplier, Bombardier.

“We are on a Bombardier system. Meaning, our different signalling sub-components have to be Bombardier in order to ensure that everything is compatible and we are able to deliver a safety integrity level that is expected of our system,” said Batan.

Batan said, that normally VLUs were not refurbished and should be replaced every 10 to 15 years, or when malfunctioning.

The DOTr had terminated the MRT3 service contract of Busan Universal Rail Inc. (BURI) for its failure to perform well and comply with the contractual requirements of a complete and updated Computerized Management System.

Before this, BURI had filed charges against DOTR officials for alleged non-payment of fees.  (EAG)

#onehouseforchange