MIRIAM TO LEAD AD HOC BODY FOR NEW SENATE BUILDING

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, vice-chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, has volunteered to chair a temporary committee to supervise efforts to implement a plan to construct a new Senate office building.

In her letter to Senate President Manny Villar, Santiago stated that she has no direct or indirect financial interest in the project since she does not intend to run for reelection in 2010.

She recommended Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Aquilino Pimentel as members of the ad hoc body.

In her Senate Resolution No. 640, Santiago pointed out that the Senate is currently spending P7.78 million a month to rent the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) building in Pasay, and about half a million pesos to rent the parking space since its transfer from the Old Congress Building in Burgos Street in Manila. This totals P8.29 million a month or around P100 million for the whole year.
Moreover, some senators also maintain satellite offices to accommodate all their staff including their files, translating to roughly half a million pesos in additional Senate expenses.

“Considering all these expenses, it would be reasonable to explore the feasibility of constructing a new Senate building,” Santiago said.

Santiago’s proposal coincided with the start of the Senate finance committee hearings on the 2009 national budget. The Department of Budget and Management proposed a P1.94 billion budget for the Senate.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate occupied the Old Congress Building in Manila from 1926 to 1945 where the Senate occupied the upper floors while the House occupied the lower portion.

In 1987, the Senate obtained the use of the Commission on Audit-National Capital Region Office(COA-NCR) Building in the Batasan area and started construction of the building intended for the Secretariat

Although spending more than P41 million for improvement of the land, building and other structures, the Senate discontinued the construction and turned over the COA-NCR Building to the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal.

MIRIAM GOES AFTER ABSENT, LATE SENATORS

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago successfully secured new Senate rules to punish absent or late senators, and to prevent them from delaying the passage of bills.

On Santiago ’s motion, without objection, the Senate adopted the new rule providing that absence of a senator will be deemed as a waiver of his right to interpellate the sponsor of any bill. “Under present practice, delay results when an absentee senator does not show up during the date that he reserved for interpellation. Delay also results, when a bill’s sponsor is absent, and there is no one to answer the questions,” the senator said.

Santiago said that if a senator has to be absent, then he should appoint a substitute senator to continue pending business. Another Santiago motion passed by the Senate is for session to start promptly at 3:00 p.m. as scheduled, and not to wait for a quorum which usually appears only at 3:30 or even 4:30 p.m.

Under the new rule, a Senate session will start at 3:00 p.m., on the condition precedent that the session will be deemed retroactively valid, when a quorum is raised, at which time roll call will be held.

“We are bending Robert’s Rules of Order, which requires a quorum to start a session. But the Supreme Court has held that the Senate can change its internal rules of procedure at any time,” said Santiago , a lawyer.

Santiago noted that last Wednesday, May 28, at 3:00 p.m., there was no quorum as usual, but when Senate President Manny Villar banged his gavel, immediately a quorum appeared. “It is a matter of self-discipline.

Late senators should not be allowed to determine when session will start,” the senator said. Santiago’s motions were supported by Senators Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile, and Richard Gordon, who each spoke up to denounce absenteeism as a source of delay in legislation.

But Majority Leader Sen. Francis Pangilinan said the new rule will apply, only if the Senate President agrees to start session without a quorum. Santiago ’s third successful motion was to add two podiums facing the senators, in addition to the six installed podiums, which all face the Senate President.

The new podiums will be installed by Monday, June 2.

“This is the arrangement in most Congresses worldwide, including the U.S. Congress. At present, when a senator delivers a privilege speech or a sponsorship speech, he has to turn his back to the other senators, in order to face the Senate President. The present system also makes it hard for media and people in the gallery to follow the speeches,” Santiago said.

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