(by Thea Alberto, INQUIRER.net)

The House of Representatives passed at least 14 bills on Tuesday, the last day of the two-day special session. 

These are: HB 3776 (Reducing Bureaucratic Red Tape); HB 4848 (Regulating the practice of Dentistry); HB 4654 (On Controlling Human and Animal Rabies); HB 5682 (On Mandatory Immunization against Hepatitis-B for Infants); HB 6078 (On Establishing Personal Equity Retirement Account or PERA); HB 6073 (On Governing the Establishment, Operation and Regulation of Lending Companies); and HB 87 (On Declaring the Sheikh Karimul Makhdum Mosque as a National Shrine);House Joint Resolution 20 and Senate Joint Resolution 9 (On creating a Congressional Commission to review state of competitiveness of Science and Technology); HB 1351 and Senate Bill 2466 (On Strengthening Workers' Right to self-organization); and HB 5309 (On Establishing Aurora Special Ecozone; HB 2933 (Granting a one-time tax amnesty); HB 786 (Declaring certain towns in Northern Samar as ecotourism zones); HB 574 (Declaring certain islands in Caramoan, Camarines Sur as ecotourism zones); and HB 591 (Declaring the island of Atulayan in Sagnay, Camarines Sur as a tourist zone. 

Download copy of HB 3776:                                                                                                             http://www.congress.gov.ph/download/billtext_13/hbt03776-m.pdf  

February 18, 2007 – “Pointing to need for money as reason in perpetuating an immoral act is a most dangerous form of corruption,” says Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party-list Representative Joel Villanueva. Congressman Villanueva is issuing this statement in anticipation of the adoption of the bill seeking for the extension of the PAGCOR franchise for another 25 years during the Special Session of Congress starting tomorrow, February 19.

PAGCOR has long been perceived as among the breeding grounds of corruption in this country. Its franchise gets renewed all the time by using as alibi the government’s dire need of money for projects.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

OCTOBER 11, 2006           

REP. VILLANUEVA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Your Honor. Before I interpellate, Mr. Speaker, may I just make a short manifestation regarding what happened yesterday. I just want to put on record that this Representation is ready to ask questions in any department and I am not here just to ask for a quorum. In fact, I will be interpellating even without enough warm bodies. But, Mr. Speaker, I just want to put on record that we have studied carefully the budget and we are ready to interpolate and even if all members of the Minority come here, we are not going to – we will never be able to muster quorum but we have half the members of the Majority, we already have a quorum.So Mr. Speaker, with that, let me know if the distinguished Sponsor, my good friend from Quirino, would yield to some questions.