JUNE 26, 2013

NR # 3146B

Share new ideas and initiatives: Belmonte urges neophyte lawmakers

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte urged the new members of the House of Representatives to give their best in upgrading legislation and let the 16th Congress be even better than its predecessor, the 15 th Congress. Your personal responsibility to the nation is to share new ideas and initiatives for the service to the people -- what the people expect from each of us, Belmonte said during a dinner hosted by UP President Alfredo Pascual on the first day of the Executive Course on Legislation which opened at the Executive House of the University of the Philippines in Diliman on Monday. In welcoming the 32 participating first-term lawmakers, Dr. Pascual stressed that, like the UP community, lawmakers share the same vision of public good and represent the interest of the people in the Halls of Congress. He also took the opportunity to thank congress, through the Speaker, for the sixty-three percent (63%) increase in the UP budget in the 2013 General Appropriations Act which upgraded faculty compensation and modernize laboratories and facilities for students. Thank you for the 100% support, he declared to the appreciation of the Speaker and the neophyte members of Congress. The first day also saw UP-NCPAG Dean Edna E.A. Co brief the new lawmakers on the Philippine Administrative System, while incoming President of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies Dr. Gilberto Llanto gave his expert insights on the Philippine Development Plan and on the Economy. Albays veteran congressman and former Minority Leader, Edcel Lagman discussed the intricacies and benefits of the often misunderstood Priority Development Assistance Fund. On the second day held at the Andaya Hall of the Batasan complex, Dr. J. Prospero De Vera III, UP Vice President for Public Affairs and NCPAG Professor, stressed that -- while maintaining the constitutional dictum of separation of powers and the provisions for checks and balances among the three branches of government -working together is still the key to effective governance. The ability to work together to undertake their respective constitutional mandates is very vital to effective governance, De Vera told newly elected first-term members of the House of Representatives. De Vera also ran through the intricacies of law-making -- on how an idea is transformed into a bill and the process and procedures of the legislative mill until a bill is submitted to the President for his signature or for the rarely exercised veto power. Earlier Tuesday, Atty. Raul Pangalangan, Professor of Law and former Dean of the UP College of Law, expounded on the roles and challenges facing Philippine legislators. Atty. Pangalangan shared his insights on the constitutional powers of Congress that include: the power to make laws; inquiries in aid of legislation; the power over the purse (the annual general appropriations law); powers of the Commission on Appointments; the exclusive power to initiate impeachment; the matter of Charter Change; and the power to declare war or states of emergency. The Executive Course on Legislation is sponsored by the House of Representatives led by Belmonte in cooperation with the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance (UPNCPAG) headed by UP President Dr. Pascual The Executive course, participated in by some 32 neophyte members of Congress, which will end Thursday, is now being held at the Andaya Hall of the Batasan Pambansa complex and implemented by the joint HRep-UP-NCPAG Project Team led by House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap and NCPAG Dean Edna E.A. Co. (30) dpt