From left to right: Expelled Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr., House of Representatives main building, House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Facebook, MANILA BULLETIN, Speaker's office)
The year 2023 came and went, but not without a bunch of eyebrow-raising happenings in the House of Representatives.
The so-called "House of the People", it is the place where political and visceral issues meet on a daily basis. That said, a full year's worth of news items from our congressmen could be too much to handle for some.
For this reason, the Manila Bulletin has compiled for your convenience and information the 10 most noteworthy stories to emerge from the year that was:
1) House comes full circle with Cha-cha
The House of Representatives came full circle with its efforts toward Charter change (Cha-cha) within the year 2023.
It was late January when the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments officially tackled the pro-Cha-cha bills filed in the 19th Congress for the first time. By March, the lower chamber had passed two measures--Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6 and House Bill (HB) No. 7352--endorsing the creation of a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) to facilitate revisions to the 1987 Constitution.
However, the lack of progress on Cha-cha over at the Senate in the succeeding months prompted the House to focus its energy elsewhere.
It was mid-December when high-ranking House officials led by Speaker Martin Romualdez revealed that the chamber intends to revisit Cha-cha at the turn of the year, and perhaps explore other methods of doing so.
Cha-cha via People's Initiative (PI) is being viewed as a viable option.
2) Confidential funds realigned in 2024 budget
The House of Representatives, in tandem with the Senate, approved in a timely manner the P5.768-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) or national budget for 2024. The 2024 spending plan is P500 billion higher than the current 2023 GAA, making it the biggest budget in the country’s history.
But what really made the news was the two chamber's mutual decision to realign P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds from civilian offices to security and intelligence agencies, specifically for the purpose of protecting the country’s interests in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Stripped of an accumulated P650 million confidential funds as a result of this move were the Department of Education (DepEd) and Office of the Vice President (OVP)--both under Vice President Sara Duterte.
Next year’s outlay has also been tailor-made to respond to what is expected to be a disastrous episode of El Niño as well as the need to provide for poor Filipinos.
Romualdez earlier disclosed that for the first time, Congress has earmarked in the 2024 national budget P60 billion for a new program called AKAP (Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita). Under this, 12 million poor and low-income families will receive a one-time financial grant of P5,000.
The Speaker said some P500 billion worth of "ayuda" or social amelioration in the 2024 budget was set aside for social service-related programs.
3) Congressman Teves gets expelled
The year 2023 was life-changing--in a really bad way--for Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo "Arnie" Teves Jr.
Teves left the country on Feb. 28 for what he claimed was stem cell treatment in the United States (US). Days later, on March 4, rival politician Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo was assassinated by gunmen in broad daylight.
Teves, who was almost instantly implicated in the crime, declined to heed calls for him to come back to the Philippines and face the allegations. He went as far as to seek political asylum in Timor Leste, something that did not sit well with his then-House colleagues.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/16/house-expels-teves-1
Citing his "disorderly behavior" and sheer refusal to report back for duty, the House handed down two 60-day suspensions against Teves before ultimately expelling him from the House and his position as congressman on Aug. 16.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to hold special elections for Teves' replacement.
4) Erwin Tulfo becomes a House member
Erwin Tulfo may have failed to secure his appointment as Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary, but he landed on his feet as ACT-CIS Party-list congressman in 2023.
Tulfo, a popular broadcast journalist, took his seat in the House in time for President Marcos' second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/8/9/erwin-tulfo-gets-named-house-deputy-majority-leader
“Ang masasabi ko lang, salamat (What I can say is, thank you). First of all, I guess prayers answered by God," Tulfo told House reporters in mid-July following a Comelec ruling that paved the way for him to become ACT-CIS Party-list's third nominee in the House.
The rookie legislator has since been named deputy majority leader for communications.
5) No more overpriced onions
The House Committee on Agriculture and Food's no-nonsense probe on agricultural smuggling--primarily on onions--was a bright spot for the chamber in 2023.
Why? Because it brought about a positive development: the inquiry resulted in the drastic drop of onion prices from an absurd P700 per kilo in last quarter of 2022 to P160 per kilo at around the same time in 2023.
The four-month investigation unmasked the key players in the alleged onion cartel in the country, which included the notorious "Sibuyas Queen"--Lilia Cruz, also known as Leah Cruz.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/18/quimbo-puts-faces-on-alleged-onion-cartel-as-house-ends-probe
Also as a result of hearing, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed charges against three Department of Agriculture (DA) officials and three officers of a cooperative.
"We will continue to monitor prices and we will not hesitate to exercise our power of oversight by conducting an investigation and prodding agencies so we can protect the public from high prices and inflation,” said Romualdez, who was the one who ordered the agriculture panel to launch such probe.
6) GMA loses plum post not once, but twice
Pampanga 2nd district congresswoman and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was "demoted" not once, but twice, in the House of Representatives in 2023.
Arroyo began the year as senior deputy speaker--a position second only to Speaker Romualdez.
This all changed on May 17, when Romualdez was relegated to the position of deputy speaker after being linked to an alleged "leaked coup plot" against Romualdez. Arroyo's province-mate, Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr., was designated the new senior deputy speaker.
The lady solon has denied having any hand in the alleged coup plot.
On Nov. 7, Arroyo, along with Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab, were unseated a deputy speaker.
The House leadership decided to remove Arroyo and Ungab a day after their apparent snub of House Resolution (HR) No.1414. Out of the eight deputy speakers and lone senior deputy speaker in the House, only the two didn't co-author the measure.
The resolution is titled "Upholding the integrity and honor of the House of Representatives and expressing appreciation, solidarity, and support to the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez".
7) Makabayan takes VP Duterte to task on confidential funds issue
So, how did Vice President Duterte spend her P125-million confidential funds in December 2022?
This was probably the most repeated question on the minds of the militant Makabayan congressmen during this year's budget process in the House of Representatives, which possesses the power of the purse.
The Makabayan solons placed a big enough spotlight on the issue that it arguably swayed their House colleagues into taking moves to ensure the confidential funds in the 2024 GAA would be put to better use, such as securing the WPS.
Although the OVP had liquidated the the P125 million as "confidential funds", the Makabayan has insisted that the office provide a detailed breakdown of the expenditures.
"It is crucial that the full audit report of all government agencies be made available to the public," said Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas last Nov. 14.
She said there is a need to uphold transparency and accountability in the handling of public funds to ensure that they are used for their intended purposes and not for personal gain.
"We urge the government to address this issue and ensure the responsible utilization of public funds. It is crucial that confidential funds undergo the same audit procedures implemented in any other government expenses," Brosas said.
8) House gets job done on SONA bills
The House of Representatives has always taken pride in expeditiously passing the legislative agenda of the Marcos administration. The year 2023 was no different.
Romualdez announced on Dec. 13 that the chamber has passed on third and final reading all 17 bills that President Marcos had pitched as priority measures during the latter's July 24 SONA.
“It is with great pride and honor to report to this august chamber that we passed all of these 17 SONA priority measures seven months ahead of the President’s next SONA in July 2024,” said Romualdez, who is arguably Marcos' top ally in the legislature.
“This august body recognizes the urgency and significance of these measures, and I am proud to say that everyone has done his and her share in actively participating in legislative discussions, building consensus and advocating the approval of these critical measures,” he added.
Marcos said in his SONA that the 17 priority bills will “sustain our economic recovery and improve the living condition of our people".
https://mb.com.ph/2023/7/25/house-has-huge-headstart-on-sona-priority-bills
By the end of November, 10 out of the 17 SONA measures had been approved by the House on third and final reading. These include amendments to the Fisheries Code, excise tax on single-use plastics, value-added tax (VAT) on digital transactions, Anti-Financial Accounts Scramming Act, Philippine Immigration Act, Rationalization of Mining Fiscal Regime, Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension Reform Act, and amendments to the Anti-Agriculture Smuggling Law.
The House then gave final approval to the six remaining SONA priority measures earlier this month to complete the 17 bills.
9) What will happen to SMNI?
To say that television network SMNI caught the attention of the House of Representatives due to its supposedly questionable programming is a huge understatement.
In the space of a few weeks, House members have filed a resolution to temporarily suspend the operations of SMNI and a separate bill to cancel the franchise of the controversial network altogether.
SMNI's woes began when it aired through one of its programs the rumor that House Speaker Martin Romualdez had spent a whopping P1.8 billion on his travels. This was later proven to be fake news in the hearings of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises.
In one particular hearing of the panel on Dec. 11, Puwersa ng mga Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list Rep. Margarita "Migs" Nograles identified 14 possible violations of SMNI across five "categories".
These five that SMNI have supposed violations against are Republic Act (RA) No.11422, or SMNI's own congressional franchise; the 1987 Constitution; the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Broadcast Code; the House rules; and the Revised Penal Code.
What will happen to the Pastor Apollo Quiboloy-founded network moving forward is anybody's guess.
10) House takes stand vs Duterte's tirades
In what could end up becoming a turning point in the current political landscape and the immediate future, the House of Representatives took a stand to defend its own integrity after it was branded as the "most rotten institution" in the country.
Leading this charge was none other than Speaker Romualdez, who declared in plenary on Nov. 6: "Tatayo ako laban sa sinuman na mananakot sa atin para masunod lamang ang gusto nila. Titindig ako — tayong lahat— para sa kapakanan ng bayan (I will stand against anybody who will try to strike fear in us just to achieve their goals. I will take a stand--all of us will--for the sake of the country)."
"Let it be said, never must we countenance or allow others not so likely-minded individuals who choose to malign or put down the image of this institution and dictate the direction we must go," added Romualdez.
https://mb.com.ph/2023/10/11/house-exec-flexes-spotless-coa-report-following-duterte-s-tirades
In the weeks prior to this, Romualdez and the House in general had been assailed by former president Rodrigo Duterte on the chamber's realignment of confidential funds in the proposed 2024 national budget.
Duterte's disparaging comments against the House were made on controversial television network SMNI. He called Congress the "most rotten institution" in the country, despite being a former House member himself.
Duterte is the father of the incumbent Vice President.