Congress' embarrassing failure to pass landmark bills proves it has lost its soul

Calling Congress' failure to pass landmark bills on human rights, education and health "an embarrassing proof of Congress' political degeneration", AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros said that the Congress' centennial marks a continuing backslide in Philippine democracy. "The failure of the House of Representatives to perform its ministerial duty to ratify the human rights compensation bill and the UP Charter Amendments, including the enactment of the cheap medicines bill, symbolize an institution that has lost its soul."

"Any Congress should represent the composition and aspirations of the people. What we see before us, unfortunately, is a wasteful institution that has lost soul to patronage politics and elitism," Rep. Hontiveros stressed. "The House of Representatives remains to be one of the biggest hindrances in achieving our nation's democratic dreams."

"I wonder where the House leadership got the audacity to parade before other parliaments and before the Filipino people an institution suffering gravely from the lack of credibility, elitism, and patronage," Rep. Hontiveros said. "This is an institution dominated not by statesmen and patriots but by politicians whose greed for wealth and power is so breathtakingly repulsive. No wonder why the Filipino people do not trust Congress."

A neophyte legislator during the 13th Congress, AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros said that Congress has continuously alienated itself from the people. She feels aghast that despite the persistence and strong lobby from people's organizations, Martial law human rights victims, and the UP community, the House of Representatives found it easy to dismiss the bills.

"Both the human rights compensation bill and the UP Charter amendments have already been ratified the Senate. All the House of Representatives had to do is to ratify the bills' bicam reports, a rather ministerial obligation. But it did nothing, and the House majority arrogantly sat on its ass to block the bills' passage," an irked Rep. Hontiveros said.

What's worse, she added, is that the House leadership colluded with the military establishment and the administration to engage in simultaneous doublespeak. "The House majority told the public and AKBAYAN Rep. Etta Rosales that the human rights compensation bill would be ratified. President GMA made a statement from Rome that it would be ratified. The AFP leadership said that they don’t object to the bill. When asked about the UP Charter amendments, the House majority promised UP officials that it would also be ratified. Up to the last minute, we were all waiting for the ratification of the bills. But no such thing happened," Rep. Hontiveros said.

"Despite its denial, we know that the national security cluster in the Cabinet is against the human rights compensation bill. So where is the supposed independence of Congress?" Rep. Hontiveros demanded.

She likewise twitted the House leadership for failing to muster a quorum for the passage of the cheap medicines bill. "AKBAYAN has worked closely with advocates from the health sector, including our senior citizens. They attended the session religiously, and they probably have attended more sessions than some of the representatives. It is so frustrating and disappointing to see that during the last three session days, the majority was not able to gather a quorum," Rep. Hontiveros said.

"If we go by the performance of Speaker De Venecia and the other leaders of the ruling coalition, nobody from current leaders of the majority bloc deserve to be re-elected. Speaker De Venecia himself should at least have the delicadeza to back out from the speakership race because of performance in the 13th Congress is a huge disappointment."