SENATE PASSES FOUR MORE BILLS BEFORE
GOING ON A THREE-WEEK RECESS

The Senate has just wrapped up its last session day today (Oct. 12) before it adjourned for a three-week recess and managed to pass in the last couple of day on Third Reading three more national bills and one local bill.

These are House Bill (HB) 5742, Amending Section 110(b) of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997 on Input VAT; Senate Bill (SB) 2226, Biofuels Act of 2006; SB 2231, Automated Election System Act of 2006; and HB 5500, Converting the Municipality of Navotas into a City.

SB 2231 or the Automated Election Act was the last bill approved on Thursday (Oct. 12) before the Senate adjourned for a recess. The election automation bill was discussed and debated on lengthily, but finally, we were able to approve it once and for all at the last minute, so to speak, says Villar, President of Nacionalista Party.

HB 5742 or the VAT Amendment Bill, under Committee Report 108, was approved on Third Reading on Monday (Oct. 9). The amended Section 110 Paragraph B of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 now reads as follows: (B) Excess Output or Input Tax: If at the end of any taxable quarter the output tax exceeds the input tax, the excess shall be paid by the VAT-registered person. If the input tax exceeds the output tax, the excess shall be carried over to the succeeding quarter or quarters.

"The amendment of Section 110 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997 particularly regarding the 70% cap will plug the loopholes used by companies in underpaying or not paying certain taxes," cites Villar.

SB 2226 or the Biofuels Act sponsored by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago was approved on Third Reading on Wednesday (Oct. 11). Upon implementation, it will require registered vehicle owners to use two kinds of biofuel bioethanol from sugarcane (as an additive to gasoline) and biodiesel from coconuts (as an additive to diesel).

According to Villar, "The Biofuels Act, once implemented will benefit not only vehicle owners but over the long term, the environment, because it will mandate the use of fuels from indigenous and renewable sources. It will bring down the pollution level, not to mention energy utilization. It will also help the agricultural sector."

HB 5500, a bill of local application, was also passed on Thursday (Oct. 12). This converts the municipality of Navotas into a city.

The four recently passed bills bring to 14 the number of bills passed in the Senate since Villar assumed his post as Senate President on July 24. The others were the P46.4-billion supplemental budget; the P500-million standby fund for the repatriation of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) trapped in Lebanon war; House Bill (HB) No. 3315 or the Human Rights Victims Compensation Act; charter of the province of Zamboanga Sibugay (HB 1299); two legislative districts in the province of Sultan Kudarat (HB 4192); amendment to the cityhood charter of Sipalay (HB 4899); cityhood of Meycauayan, Bulacan (HB 4937); Radio Maria Foundation, Inc. (HB 2478); the creation of the new province of Dinagat island in Surigao (HB 884) and granting citizenship to Charles William Mosser (SB 1978/HB 643).