MIRIAM: NAME SOLONS IN SECRET BUDGET INSERTS

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, vice-chair of the Senate finance committee, said that if congressional insertions are made on the floor in plenary session, they are regular; but if they are made at the secret bicameral meetings, they are irregular and their authors should come forward and identify themselves.

She said that apparently, Senate President Manny Villar initiated the congressional insertion during the period of amendment on the floor in plenary session, which renders it regular.

Santiago issued the dare to other solons during the public hearing yesterday on the budget process, particularly on the alleged double entry for the C-5 extension project.

The exasperated Santiago issued the call for solons to identify themselves voluntarily, after budget secretary Rolando Andaya, Jr. refused to release the names of the legislators who made the congressional insertions, during the bicameral meetings.

Andaya also failed to give Santiago his estimate of the total congressional initiatives, after admitting that in the public works budget alone, the initiatives totaled P17.5 billion.

On Santiago ’s question, public works secretary Hermogenes Ebdane said that the total budget cost of the controversial Garcia Ave. Extension from SLEX to Sucat road, including right of way, is P 4.49 billion.

During the hearing, Santiago and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, chair of the Senate finance committee, disagreed on the respective roles of the President and the Congress in jointly exercising the “power of the purse.”

Enrile said that the President’s budget is merely a working draft, and is not binding on Congress.

Santiago said that since the President’s budget is the result of the collective expertise of the budget department, finance department, and the NEDA, it should be respected and, as much as possible, should be left intact.

“Massive congressional insertions embedded in the 2008 budget during the secret bicam meetings changed beyond recognition the priorities observed by the executive branch,” she said.

The feisty senator said that she respectfully dissented from Enrile’s view, “at the risk of being smacked by my elder and better.” The two senators were seated side by side, but were amicable.

Santiago said budget amendments made on the floor are regular, but if made in the secret bicam meetings, they are “devious and suspicious.”

Santiago said that this week she will file her bill called Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2008, with certain features which she strongly advocated during the hearing.

“Congressmen who propose an earmark should be identified,” she said.

Santiago said all bicameral conference committee reports should include a list of all earmarks in the budget.

“To observe the constitutional duty of transparency, the bicameral conference committee report on the budget, including the list of earmarks, should be made available to the Senate and to the general public on the internet for at least 24 hours before its consideration in plenary session,” she said.

Santiago said that every earmark proposal should be accompanied by an explanation of its essential government purpose.

“I am also considering adopting the American law and filing a Funding Accountability and Transparency Act,” she said.

Santiago said that her second bill will require the DBP to create a searchable data base of all government-appropriated funds and their recipients.

In her opening statement at the hearing, Santiago told the TV audience that what we in the Philippines call “congressional insertions” are in the U.S. called “earmarks.”

“Even in the U.S. , the executive and legislative branches cannot agree on the definition of ‘earmarks,’ which we call congressional insertions,” she said.

Santiago said that on the one hand, the U.S. executive branch, through the Office of Management and Budget, defines earmarks as “funds provided by the Congress for projects where the congressional direction circumvents executive branch merit-based or competitive allocation processes, or specifies the location or recipient, or otherwise curtails the ability of the executive branch to manage critical aspects of the fund’s allocation process.”

Santiago said that on the other hand, the U.S. legislative branch, through the Congressional Research Service, defines an earmark as a provision that specifies certain congressional spending priorities and may appear either in the text of the budget or the report of the bicameral conference committee on the budget.

“The issue of congressional insertions is paramount. Thus, earmarks figured in the first round of the U.S. presidential debate between McCain and Obama, and earmarks are being raised as an issue against vice-presidentiable Sarah Palin,” she said.

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: EXPOSE BUDGET INSERTS

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, in a privilege speech yesterday, said that it is unconstitutional for Congress to keep secret the budget process, thus leading to abuses of authority during the bicameral conference.

“All decisions made by the bicameral conference should be printed and circulated to members of both houses of Congress three days before the panel’s ratification of the bicameral committee report,” she said.

Santiago said the bicameral committee members often abuse their authority.

“With the budget, the bicam not only reconciles the differences between the House and the Senate versions. Under the most secretive conditions, the conference introduces budget items that did not exist in any version,” she said.

Santiago said that to make the budget process transparent, the bicam should be limited to reconciling the disagreeing provisions of the House and the Senate versions.

“No new budget programs, projects, and activities should be introduced during the process of budget reconciliation,” she said.

Santiago urged the media to expose all congressional initiatives every year- end, listing the legislators, the public works projects, and the amounts.

“Even I, a senator no less, was refused by the Legislative Budget Review and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) when I asked for such a list yesterday,” she said.

Santiago said refusal to give her the information violates the “constitutionally protected right of the public to information on matters of public concern.”

Santiago said it was the second time that the LBRMO refused to give her information, the first having been her request for the names of senators, if any, who have returned to the Senate at yearend any excess money from their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).

In her first year as senator in 1996, Santiago returned her excess fund, but was severely criticized by her then colleagues in the Senate for alleged breach of confidentiality.

“Congressional insertions are part of the amendment process of the budget, but like pork barrel funds, they should be revealed to the public with respect to recipients and amounts,” she said.

Santiago also urged the two finance chairs – Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and Rep. Edcel Lagman – to ensure that the budget indicates if an appropriation is part of a multi-year “installment plan.”

“For example, if the C-5 extension project really costs P 4 billion to be paid in annual installments, then every appropriation should be marked as ‘Installment 1,’ and so on. That way, we shall avoid public suspicion of an improper double entry,” she said.

Santiago said that Senate Pres. Manny Villar was not necessarily culpable, if he requested the congressional insertion of another P200 million for the same project that had already been given the same amount in another page.

“It appears that there were double entries, because the first entry was one installment, and the second entry was another installment on the total amount appropriated for the same project,” she said.

Santiago proposed that the Senate President and the Speaker should agree on a policy of self-restraint and public disclosure, by adopting the policy of notifying each legislator that each one is entitled to a congressional insertion uniformly limited in amount.

“Congressional insertions are objectionable, because they are done secretly, and some senators get more money than others, while others do not even ask for anything at all,” she said.

Santiago was one of few senators named by Sen. Enrile as those who did not make any congressional insertions for the 2005 budget.

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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TRANSCRIPT OF SENATE MEDIA INTERVIEW WITH SEN. MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

26 November 2007

On the conflict of interest in the Transco sale

The crux here is that the president of the government agency which is in charge of selling the National Transmission Corporation (Transco), a billion-peso company, is suffering from a prohibited conflict of interest, in the sense that he is an officer of several corporations owned by one of the part owners of a bidder for the government agency. But we must put this charge in context. That is the reason why I, as chair of the Senate panel, and Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, as chair of the House panel, of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, which has the power of
control and supervision over the sale of these electric power assets of the government, are first
asking these government officials to explain if they have violated the law. There is a violation of law when the person who is supposed to sign or approve the contract is himself, or through a board, group, or a panel of the government, might have a financial, material, or pecuniary interest [in the contract]. In this case, the allegation is that the president of PSALM, a government agency, was a former member of the board of directors of several companies owned by Mr. Enrique Razon, who is part owner of a company which is one of the qualified bidders. So there is a defense on the part of Mr. Ibazeta if he can show that pursuant to law he divested himself of any interest in the Razon corporations, then there is no violation of law. The fact that he used to be an officer of any of those corporations does not make it illegal if after his appointment he resigned from the position or he sold his shares of stock within the period provided by law, 30 days for resignation and 60 days for divestment of interest.

Furthermore, we have to put it into context that the complaint is being filed by disgruntled bidders who did not make it in the cut. When there’s a public bidding, there is a prequalification process. You weed out those who are qualified and those who are not. And these two objectors, who belong to the failed bidders, are not exactly strangers to the power game in Manila. One is the brother of a congressman, Mr. Zamora. The other one, Mr. Ocampo, used to be a public official. Although there is no presumption of innocence in this case because the law expressly provides that there is a presumption of prohibited interest, the person is given a chance to prove that there is no such conflict because he either resigned or he divested himself. We have to wait for his reply in the name of fairness and justice before we make any serious charges. Senators Pimentel and Madrigal are expressing concern over the alleged conflict of interest. This is what has prompted the JCPC, of which I am co-chair, to require the written explanation from Mr. Ibazeta.

On the schedule of the JCPC hearing on the Transco sale

Now we are entering budget week. Under Senate rules, we cannot hold committee or any other hearing when Session is in order. Since we have sessions morning and afternoon, we are prohibited from holding public hearings this week. The budget hearings may even be extended next week. I have to go from December 1 to 7 to Europe as part of the delegation for the President’s state visit there. The earliest we can set the hearing [on the Transco sale] is on December 13. We shall then be anticipating the presence of two public officials who are now in the hot seat. The first one is Finance Secretary Teves, as chair of the privatization council which approved the sale of the Energy Development Corporation without notice to the JCPC. The Epira law provides that to privatize our government corporation in this particular case, we should sell the generating plants packaged to the steam sales agreement. That this methodology prescribed by the law. Now we hear that the privatization council has approved of the sale by a means other than that provided by law. We had asked Secretary Teves to make an urgent appearance and give an explanation. The second one is Mr. Ibazeta because of the charge of conflict of interest. There are two hot officials who will have to come to the Senate on December 13.

The bidding is on December 12. It will not necessarily be the declared a failure just because there might be conflict of interest on the part of the president of PSALM. Assuming for the sake of argument that that is the case, the bidding will not necessarily result to a failed bid. Remember that we in the JCPC are very anxious that this bidding procedure should now be concluded because in the past we spent a lot of time going over three bidding processes, all of which were declared failures, mostly for the reason that there was only one successful pre-qualified bidder. Pursuant to the philosophy of Epira, which is to sell all assets concerning the power industry to private owners, we want to sell at a good market price the Transco. But we want to make sure that the sale is pursuant to the Epira.

On Sen. Mar Roxas’ election as president of the Liberal Party

It is no secret that Sen. Roxas was elected president of the Liberal Party today in anticipation of his presidential candidacy as official standard-bearer of LP for 2010. By Wednesday, his major rival in the presidency as of the moment, Senate President Manny Villar, is also holding his own show of power, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Nacionalista Party, which is the oldest political party in our country, also in anticipation of his own presidential candidacy. For a while there it looks like a Villar-Roxas race. But now, former President Estrada tour within Metro Manila, where he is reportedly getting crowds of the masses, has prompted media titillation with his public entertainment of the possibility that he might run for president. Then it might become a three-cornered fight. In that case, all bets will be off. It will be three multibillionaires fighting each other and all the rest will have the capacity of ants in the presence of three elephants.

On Sen. Loren Legarda and Vice President Noli de Castro running for President in 2010

They are ants. (Laughter.) When the elephants sneeze, the ants will catch pneumonia. Because it is now a given that you cannot run for president unless you have at least P1 billion, and your chances increase in multiples of tens of billions. The surveys will not count for very much apart from the usual cynicism among the public about the accuracy of those surveys.

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Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago interview transcript

25 July 2007

On the issue of the Senate Committee chairmanships:

The thing here is that we have a Villar majority, but we do not have a majority on who should be chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee. This is very strange because normally the majority of the Senate President is congenial and homogenous, they vote as a block on major issues. But not in this particular instance. In our coalition that voted for the Senate President, we agreed only on who should be the Senate President. We agreed on nothing else. That is his (Villar’s) problem. If he votes in favor of the administration, opposition supporters might desert him, and vice versa. If he votes in favor of the opposition, administration senators will desert him and look for another president.

(My suggestion is to) settle all the other chairmanships except for Blue Ribbon so that we could start work. As long as we are not elected chairs of various committees, all those references that begin the Senate agenda every afternoon will be useless because we don’t know who is the chair of the committee to which the particular bill is being assigned.

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Press Release

3 July 2007

MIRIAM, MANNY, SERGE: SENATE’S TOP 3 WORKERS

The Senate Bills and Index Service said that the highest number of bills and resolutions in the outgoing Thirteenth Congress was filed by Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Manny Villar, and Sergio Osmeña.

A bill is the first draft of a proposed law, while a resolution is a call for an inquiry in aid of legislation, also known as congressional investigation.

Senate records show that the top three hardest working senators filed the following bills and resolutions: Santiago – 658, Villar – 592, and Osmeña – 391.

The highest number of bills was filed by the following: Santiago – 513, Villar – 508, and Osmeña – 353.

However, the highest number of resolutions was filed by a different set of senators, also led by Santiago – 145, and include Francis Pangilinan – 108, and Jamby Madrigal – 94.

“The statistics are significant in evaluating Senate performance. But the most important factor is not quantifiable – the quality of the senator’s participation in the Senate debates. This can only be revealed by an assiduous tracking of the daily debates in the Senate Journal,” Santiago said.

Santiago said that significant statistics include not only the number of bills and resolutions filed, but also the number of bills sponsored during Senate debates, during which the senator who is chair of the committee sponsoring the bill answers queries from his colleagues.

“Contrary to the pompous pronouncements of some analysts, the senator’s voting record is not necessarily a measure of integrity, unlike in the United States, where the senators vote along party and ideological lines. Here, senators tend to vote according to the line that is popular at the time, or that will advance their personal interest, or the interest of a lobby group,” Santiago said.

But Santiago said that the number of bills and resolutions filed indicates that “at least the senator is doing his basic homework.”

The rest of the senators, in the order of the bills and resolutions filed, are: Senators Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada – 338, Luisa Ejercito Estrada – 256, Edgardo Angara – 226, Kiko Pangilinan – 192, Ramon Magsaysay Jr. – 188, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. – 184, Ralph Recto – 168, Juan Flavier – 164, Mar Roxas – 160, Richard Gordon – 151, Jamby Madrigal – 143, Rodolfo Biazon – 139, Ramon Revilla Jr. – 130, Franklin Drilon – 127, Pia Cayetano – 121, Alfredo Lim – 113, Panfilo Lacson – 105, Manuel Lapid – 105, Juan Ponce Enrile – 102, and Joker Arroyo – 55.

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Press Release

28 June 2007

MIRIAM: VILLAR AS SENATE CHIEF WIL USE “ENLIGHTENED SKEPTICISM” WITH PALACE

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, confirming that she was one of the first senators to sign the endorsement resolution, said that Sen. Manny Villar will be reelected as Senate President, and that he will observe an attitude of “enlightened scepticism” in cooperating with Malacanang on administration bills.

“I support Manny because I believe in continuity of leadership. He has already stamped his leadership style on the Senate, and it would be more efficient to keep him in the post to promote everybody’s comfort level,” Santiago said.

Santiago said she signed the pro-Villar resolution during her birthday last June 15 at a restaurant ballroom, attended by some 80 guests led by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the First Gentleman.

“Throughout the dinner, Manny engaged the President in a cordial dialogue about administration-certified measures I gathered that he intends to remain open-minded, meaning that he will not be a knee-jerk oppositionist,” Santiago said.

Santiago pointed out that Villar is not necessarily an opposition senator because he was merely a guest candidate of the opposition, and he ran as the official candidate of the Nacionalista Party, which he leads.

“His sure reelection as Senate President will give him a competitive edge over his many dreamy rivals for the 2010 presidency, because he will have the advantage of continuous media exposure and of speaking engagements that will broaden his base and at the same time enable him to strengthen his party machinery,” she said.

Santiago said that apart from Villar, the likely 2010 presidential candidates will be Senators Roxas, Lacson, Gordon, Legarda, and Madrigal.

Manny Trumps all presidentiables with his capture of the Senate presidency. The others will have to settle for running as his vice presidential candidate,” she said.

The senator reportedly told Villar she is interested in keeping her present committee chairmanships, but would prefer to exchange the energy committee with another committee devoted to a topic more “lawyer friendly.”

I expect that like me, other administration senators within the coalition will also keep their committee chairmanships. In other words, the status quo will be observed more or less,” she said.

Santiago, careful to stress that she was speculating, said that Sen. Enrile will likely be the finance chair, while Sen. Pangilinan will likely be blue ribbon chair.

“Generally, a candidate wins as Senate President if he is successfully able to distribute the committee chairmanships among his allies, on the basis of seniority and loyalty. The practice is that major committee chairmanships are given to the strongest supporters of the winner,” she said.

Santiago said that once the majority have picked their Senate President, and the minority their Minority Leader, the two officials will then discuss the remaining committee chairmanships available for the minority.

“So you see, this in not an administration-opposition thing. Instead, it is a majority-minority thing. That’s the true dynamics in the asisgnement of committee chairmanships,” she said.

Santiago as chair of both foreign relations and energy committees, as well as their respective oversight committees. She is also vice-chair of the finance committee and a member of the Commission on Appointments.

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