One-fifths of Senate bills filed by Miriam

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago filed the most number of bills in the Senate with 704 and co-authored 25 others. 

The senator’s bills almost comprise one-fifths of the 3,868 bills filed by all senators for the Fourteenth Congress. She also topped the list for most number of resolutions filed with 277. 

Santiago, despite her chronic fatigue syndrome, consistently led her fellow senators in submitting the most number of legislative measures since her election in 2004. Her medical condition prompted the senator to file for an indefinite sick leave last year and early this year. 

Notable among her bills is the Anti-Billboard Bill passed by the Senate but ignored by the House of Representatives in the last congress, reportedly because of the influence of a moneyed billboard lobby. 

The measure, which places a strict ban on the billboards that fail to comply with certain size and location requirements, recently passed the committee level as Committee Report No. 85 and is now waiting to be sponsored on the Senate floor. 

Santiago’s Anti-Video Voyeurism Bill passed second reading before the Senate’s sine die adjournment in the wake of the recent Senate investigation on the proliferation of the sex videos involving Dr. Hayden Kho and various women. The bill aims to protect the privacy and dignity of every person by criminalizing photo and video voyeurism. 

Senate Bill No. 1757, or the Clear Sidewalks Act of 2009, sponsored by Santiago and co-authored with Sen. Benigno Aquino III, passed third reading before the adjournment. 

The bill prohibits the use of streets, sidewalks, avenues, alleys, bridges, parks, and other public places for commercial or personal use, and requires citizens to apply for the temporary use of sidewalks for special community-wide occasions and other civic or charitable purpose.

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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