“Our Present for the Future”
Closing Speech of Senate President Franklin M. Drilon
Adjournment Sine Die of the 16th Congress
6 June 2016

My esteemed colleagues:

Today, we adjourn sine die our Third Regular Session and formally close the 16th Congress. And at noon of June 30, this 16th Congress of the Republic will end and become part of history.

I have stood here eight times before to deliver, as President of the Senate, the closing messages of the previous sessions and past Congresses. I am thankful to be here again – for the ninth time – for the concluding message of the Senate of the 16th Congress.

How would the nation and our people remember the 16th Congress? How would history judge us?

Ladies and gentlemen of this august chamber, I have been in the Senate for 18 years. I have been honored with the rare gift of being elected Senate President four times. I have been given the responsibility of steering our beloved Senate through the ebb and flow for a combined eight years and seven months. And having attended, and presided, in all of the 284 sessions of this 16th Congress, I believe that I would know whether we have done just enough. Or, more than enough.

I can say with conviction that this Senate did more than enough. To my colleagues, let me therefore put on record my profound gratitude for the perseverance, hard work and unselfish support you have shown in the 16th Congress.

With strong political will, this Senate cleared the hurdle of passing difficult but landmark measures that previously languished in the legislative mill for decades. Thus, we need not be afraid to face the verdict of our people and history. We, as members of this august chamber, have fared well.

Three years ago, shortly after we convened the 16th Congress, the Senate went through what may have been its darkest period in its 100 years of existence. The naysayers had written us off, and doubted if we could ever regain the trust of our people. It was difficult and challenging. But we listened. We persevered. We worked hard. We made difficult decisions. We implemented reforms. We stood as one.

Not long after, a clear majority of our people, as reflected in the opinion polls, expressed satisfaction with the Senate’s performance. We had triumphed collectively over adversity.

But there is no better gauge in measuring public trust and satisfaction than that of facing the judgment of our people in an election. I sought a new mandate knowing full well that my reelection would rise or fall on the strength or weakness of my leadership of the Senate.

I would not play coy and hide my elation in getting the nod of 18.6 million Filipinos and in obtaining the highest vote among the senatorial candidates in the last May election. I take pride and joy in that.

If we did well in the last election, it was because of your support and our accomplishments in the Senate. We have done the right things. We have done things right.

My dear colleagues, hard work is the bridge between the goals we set when the 16th Congress opened, and the accomplishments that we are proudly claiming now. Hard work enabled us to achieve so much in a span of three years.

In the 16th Congress, leaders of the Senate and the House held regular monthly meetings to define and advance our legislative agenda.

Our collective efforts yielded a harvest of laws that will strengthen the economy, promote social justice and transform our country into one of the strongest and fastest growing economies in the world.

But this is not the end of the road. What we have achieved is just the starting point for the next leap forward. Through the laws that we enacted, we are giving the 17th Congress, and the next administration, our present for the future.

Allow me then to report, my colleagues, what we have accomplished in the 16th Congress:

On the Economy

The Senate of the 16th Congress was focused on laying the foundation of a healthy economy. We buckled down and enacted measures on good governance and institutional reforms as these are key to a better business climate.

Now, our gains are starting to unfold. The GOCC Governance Act, which we passed on our own initiative, made state owned enterprises instruments of national progress, instead of being milking cows. Since 2013, or for the last 3 years, the GOCCs remitted a total of over one hundred billion pesos in dividends to the national treasury.

The optimism and confidence of the international community are reflected in the significant improvements in our global competitiveness standing, ease of doing business ranking, and sovereign rating.

After being stalled in Congress for more than 20 years, we finally passed the Philippine Competition Act. It outlaws and penalizes anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position, and anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.

We amended the 50-year old Cabotage law to foster greater competition and lower the cost of domestic shipping.

We allowed the Full Entry of Foreign Banks in the country. The liberalization of the banking sector will not only result in greater capital influx and foreign direct investments, but it will also help the Philippines ease into the integrated financial and capital markets in the region, in time for the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework in 2020.

We amended the Foreign Investment Negative List, which would liberalize the ownership of lending, adjustment and financing companies, so that these industries can contribute to the socio-economic development of our country.

To promote fiscal accountability and transparency in granting tax incentives, the Tax Incentives Monitoring and Transparency Act (TIMTA) is now a law.

We passed the Go Negosyo Law to bring government services closer to small businesses and help improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Accompanying these economic measures are landmark laws to introduce structural changes in government agencies that have direct impact on our economy.

Rampant smuggling is costing the government a revenue loss estimated at two percent of our GDP. To address this, we passed the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act to institute structural reforms in the Bureau of Customs. The CMTA would address rampant smuggling by instituting electronic processing of imports and exports, simplifying the customs procedure for ordinary citizens, and increasing the operating flexibility of the Bureau of Customs.

Responding to the clamor for a separate government agency that will address the challenges of the information and communications technology, we established by law the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Its creation will greatly enhance information communication technology services, and harness the sector’s potential to be one of the strongest drivers of economic growth.

We introduced the amendments to the charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) to provide for a more effective bank resolution and liquidation process, thereby protecting the approximately 50 million deposit account holders.

We enacted on time all the national budgets submitted to Congress by the Aquino Administration for the past six years.

On Justice

We know all too well that without a strong public accountability system, the prospects for long-term development is bleak. We therefore instituted structural changes in certain agencies considered pillars of the justice sector, namely the Sandiganbayan and the National Bureau of Investigation.

To add more teeth to the government’s campaign against corruption, we lengthened the prescriptive period for violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act from 15 years to 20 years.

We also passed the Freedom of Information bill.

On Agriculture

Understanding that increased agricultural output and productivity contribute to the overall development of the country, the 16th Congress passed a number of laws that push for the agricultural sector’s growth and farmers’ welfare.

Not too many of our people are aware of this – but if we did not pass the Amendments to the Fisheries Code to make it compliant with international standards, our marine and fisheries products would have been banned from entering the European Union.

With the extension of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) and the enactment of the Sugarcane Industry Development Act, our farmers and fisher folk can now avail of credit facilities, and other technical support that will improve their competitiveness and increase their productivity.

Recognizing that large-scale smuggling impedes economic growth, we made by law large-scale agricultural smuggling punishable as economic sabotage.

On Worker’s Welfare

Employment is a pillar of development. We passed measures that provided job security, social benefits, fair pay and higher income.

The 16th Congress prevented the blacklisting of more than 80,000 Filipino seafarers in EU-flagged vessels by enacting the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) Law, to make our regulatory framework compliant with international standards.

The new charter of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) ensures that our OFW contributions will now be spent exclusively for programs and activities that directly aid our overseas Filipino workers.

To provide better employment access and information, we mandated the establishment of Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) in all provinces, cities, and municipalities.

The 16th Congress increased the tax exemption cap for 13th month pay and other benefits from P30,000 to P82,000. Its passage enabled all public and private sector employees to enjoy a bigger take home pay.

On Health

My dear colleagues, the Senate has demonstrated strong political will to invest in the health of our people. The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law was one of the most difficult reform measures enacted by Congress. But we have shown that it could be done.

The passage of the Sin Tax Reform Law, on the other hand, has resulted in an incremental excise tax of approximately P150 Billion for the past three years. A part of this incremental revenue supported our Universal Health Program, enroll 15 million indigent families in Philhealth, and cover our senior citizens, which we required under the Amendments to the Expanded Senior Citizens Act.

With the view of decreasing the number of Filipinos dying due to major tobacco-related diseases, we passed the Graphic Health Warning Act to compel cigarette companies to graphically demonstrate in cigarette packs the deadly effects of smoking.

On Education

Acknowledging its pivotal role in economic development and its importance in breaking the cycle of poverty, we enacted a number of laws that will make education more accessible to our children. Complementing the “K to 12” program, which is now the cornerstone of our learning system, we passed the Iskolar ng Bayan Act, the Unified Student Financial Assistance System Act (UNIFAST), Ladderized Education Act, the Open Learning and Distance Education Act, and the Open High School System Act.

My dear colleagues:

The 16th Congress may not be perfect. The Senate would not claim a picture-perfect performance, as no one in the past, nor in the future, can possibly do so.

Yes, there remain areas that require fixing.

Yes, we failed to tick all the items in our government's bucket list, but we managed to cross out those that truly count.

Today, the Philippines is being hailed as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. From being dubbed as Sick Man of Asia barely six years ago, the Philippines is now Asia's Rising Star. This is a testament to our efforts to bring our beloved country to our development goals on the wings of good governance.

However, the challenge that we must face head on is to protect our gains, and ensure the continuity of reforms, so that their fruits will be enjoyed not only by this generation, but also by the generations yet unborn.

Now, more than ever, we need to safeguard the reforms we have painstakingly put in place, so that neither force, nor personalities, can reverse them.

To my esteemed colleagues, I am humbled, honored and deeply grateful for your trust and support. Thank you.

Let me also express my profound appreciation and gratitude to the Senate Secretariat, and our respective staff, for their unwavering support and competent service.

I must say that the time I spent serving and leading this august chamber is, indeed, time well bestowed. It has been a great honor and pleasure to serve the Senate.

There is a time for everything, Mr. President. A time to sow, and a time to reap. There is a time to say goodbye to people we have broken bread with, as there is a time to welcome new faces.

Maraming salamat po.

God bless the Senate.

God bless the Filipino people.

God bless our country.