Congress finishes off its first of three regular sessions with incredible harvest, quantity-wise at least.

Just on its first year, the 14th Congress has already enacted seven new laws. Three more are pending President Arroyo’s action. Over all, Senate and the House have passed on third reading 30 and 253 more bills, respectively.

Out of the House’s harvest, a total of 52 are nationally applicable and 197 are locally applicable.

Not just investigations

“This is an outstanding accomplishment considering that in the past, most bills were not approved in the first regular session of a Congress,” Senate President Manuel Villar said on Thursday. During the 12th and 13th Congresses, the Senate only passed on third and second reading a total of 16 and eight bills, respectively.

“[This] should put to rest criticisms that the Senate has reneged on its lawmaking functions in favor of oversight congressional investigations on allegations of fraud and corruption in government,” Villar added.

The Senate came under fire in the previous Congress because of its failure to act on certain bills approved by the House. At that time, the Senate committees were focused on investigations of high-profile anomalies linking Malacañang.

This, the Senate did not stop doing. Since July 2007, the Senate has conducted a total of 342 public hearings. Among the most controversial are its investigations on the following: botched national broadband deal, Glorietta mall blast, and the high power rates.

House works fast

Prospero Nograles, on the other hand, faces the pressure of proving that he is a better Speaker than his predecessor Pangasinan Rep. Jose De Venecia Jr.

The House has passed on third reading a total of 253 bills. By comparison, the First Regular Session of the 13th the House passed only five bills on third reading. During the entire 13th Congress, only 38 bills were passed on third reading. Nograles, who assumed only in February, cannot take full credit for this success.

"The number of measures we passed gives us enough cause to be proud of our performance,” Nograles  But we take greater pride in the fact that we passed quality, responsive and timely national and local bills,” Nograles, speaking before his colleagues, said on the last day of the first regular session on Wednesday.

Highs: Seven new laws

Congress finally passed bills that are long overdue. The seven new laws are the following:

1. Republic Act 09496: An act to extend the utilization period of the agricultural competitiveness enhancement fund.
2. Republic Act 09497: An act creating the civil aviation authority of the Philippines
3. Republic Act 09498: The General Appropriations Act of 2008
4. Republic Act 09499: An act allowing Filipino World War II Veterans to continue receiving Philippine government pensions and benefits provided by the US government
5. Republic Act 09500: An act to strengthen the University of the Philippines as the national university
6. Republic Act 09501: The Magna Carta for Small Enterprises
7. Republic Act 09502: Act Act providing for cheaper and quality medicines

After several years of working on a reenacted budget, Congress was finally able to pass a new appropriations act. One reason to celebrate this—inspite of some questionable provisions—is the fact that the government was finally able to appropriate a budget to update the population census. Previously, the country has long depended on the outdated 2000 population statistics.

After failed attempts in previous congresses, the cheaper medicines bill was finally passed into law. After a long impasse on the House-backed generics-only provision, which the senators opposed, the congressmen eventually gave in. But the law's impact in bringing down drug prices is yet to be seen.

Lows: CARP and baselines bill

Congress’s failure to decide on two important  bills—the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and the drawing of the country’s baselines—are the dark spots in its otherwise incredible record.

The status of CARP is now unclear. There are debates whether its expiration is this month or in  December.

The baselines bill, on the other hand, is believed to be a crucial evidence for the Philipines’ claim over the Kalayaan Group of Islands or Spratlys. The United Nations Convention for the Laws of the Sea has set the deadline in May 2009 for all the six claimant countries to submit their evidence.

While a baselines law is not a required evidence, experts believe that it will strengthen the Philippines’ claim over the disputed islands because it will show its proximity to Palawan.

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