Press Release
June 4, 2009

Senate adjourns sine die, Enrile cites accomplishments

The Senate adjourned sine die Wednesday night with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile citing the approval of at least 28 major bills designed to address the country's economic difficulties and respond to the prevailing challenges in education, environmental protection, public safety and consumer protection as among its key accomplishments.

Enrile said the Senate has so far approved a total of 173 bills on second and third reading, of which 137 have been signed into law by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Senate also approved a total of 225 House bills and concurred in the ratification of eight international treaties and adopted 82 resolutions, he added.

In a privilege speech Wednesday night, Enrile noted that aside from the enactment of socio-economic measures, the Senate also performed its oversight functions by conducting investigations in aid of legislation on alleged scams such as the World Bank-funded national road improvement project, the anomalous practices of pre-need companies such as the Legacy-owned firms, and the P728-million fertilizer fund scam.

Likewise, Enrile pointed out, the Senate, as a Committee of the Whole, was in the process of investigating the ethics complaint filed by Sen. Jamby Madrigal against former Senate President Manuel Villar in connection with the C-5 road project.

"While we account to the people on this day what we have done over the past seven months, the Senate surely has much more to do and achieve in the crafting of laws that will spur the growth of enterprises, create more jobs and provide our people not only with a stable income, but more importantly, to live in a society that upholds their human, civil and political rights, their dignity, and their pride as Filipinos," Enrile said.

"We have to promote an environment of political and economic stability, peace and order, and social justice under our democratic system if we are to be worthy of being a Senate of the Filipino people," he added. "And it is with immense pride that I say this: despite our individual and political differences, we, as Senators of the Republic have shown our strong resolve to unite when the national interest, the common good and the needs of our marginalized citizens are at stake."

In addressing the global economic slowdown, Enrile noted the General Appropriations Act of 2009 (RA 9524) was enacted by the Senate with a P50 billion stimulus fund allocated for education, environment, agriculture, food and infrastructure to create jobs.

The other significant bills approved by the Senate, Enrile said, were the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP); the amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA); the Competition Act of 2009; the Torture Act; the creation of the Climate Change Commission; the Magna Carta for Homeowners, and the Electricity Rate reduction Bill.

The Senate also ratified the bicameral conference committees' reports on the Rent Control Act of 2009; the Joint Resolution on the Salary Standardization Act for government employees; strengthening the Pag-IBIG Fund Charter and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) Strengthening Act, he added.

Other measures passed by the Senate to help government overcome the current economic difficulties were the Tourism Act of 2009 (RA 9593); the Minimum Wage Earners Tax Exemption (RA 9504); the Socialized and Low-Cost Housing Loan Condonation Act of 2008 (RA 9507); the Act establishing Livelihood Skills Training Centers in 4th, 5th and 6th Class Municipalities (RA 9509); the Credit Information System Act (RA 9510); the Renewable Energy Act (RA 9513); the Act Establishing a Comprehensive Fire Code of the Philippines (RA 9514); the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008 (RA 9520); the National Book Development Trust Fund to Support Filipino Authorship (RA 9521); the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 (RA 9502); the University of the Philippines Charter of 2008 (RA 9500); and the Act Amending the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) or RA 9576.

Enrile mentioned that the Philippine Archipelagic Baselines Law (RA 9522) was passed by the Senate as well as the supplemental budget of P11.3 billion for poll automation (RA 9525) to ensure the conduct of free, clean and honest election.

Now pending approval by the President are the Magna Carta of Women, a bill regulating the practice of Real Estate Service and adjusting the requirements on education for the promotion in the Philippine National Police, Enrile said.

"It was imperative for the Senate to act: To give our people a sense of hope, and to restore their faith in their elected representatives and leaders to rise up to their expectation that we can offer solutions to their problems and difficulties in the face of the economic storm we are faced with," Enrile said in his specch. "You and I know that there are external forces and events that are beyond our control. But what we can manage and muster is our ability to respond to those events."

In his speech, Enrile explained the challenges he faced in presiding with outmost sense of fairness and impartiality over the Senate Committee of the Whole hearing the ethics complaint against Villar.

"I have always maintained that it is our duty as Senators of the Republic to preserve the institutional credibility of the Senate and to show to the people who elected us into office that we will not shirk from the responsibility to call on any of our peers to account for his or her own acts when such is questioned on ethical grounds," Enrile explained.

He said it was the duty of all Senate members "to give our colleagues who stand accused of any unethical behavior the full opportunity to defend themselves and clear their names and thereby preserve the integrity of this Institution which stands to suffer from any wrongdoing on the part of its members."

"At this point, when I have been tasked to preside over the proceedings of the Senate Committee of the Whole to hear the charges against a dear friend and colleague, I would like to say that it pains me to see the acrimony that the investigation has spawned among us," Enrile said.

"The spirit of sobriety and civility that I have sought to foster at the beginning of this process may have been wishful thinking on my part and soon enough, I myself felt provoked to stand up and defend myself against incessant attacks on my person," he further said.

"As I have said before: I am far from impervious to the sensitivity of the task at hand. The sensitivity and gravity of the legal and moral responsibility we now carry, to sit in judgment of the conduct of our own colleagues in this chamber, is a responsibility which none of us, I am sure would take lightly nor comfortably," Enrile pointed out. "It is a duty, therefore, that exacts from us, and especially this humble representation, the utmost sense of fairness and impartiality."

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