Only four out of the 2,626 bills filed at the Senate were approved by the chamber on third and final reading before the holiday break, the records of the Senate Legislative Bills and Index Service Department (LBIS) showed. Data culled by GMANews.TV showed that the Senate approved only four bills on third and final reading before it went on its holiday break on December 18. The session will resume on January 17 next year. Among these four bills is the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2011 which was passed by the Senate on December 1. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said this is the earliest the chamber had passed a budget bill since 1987 or the Eighth Congress. He added that the ratification of the bicameral report on December 13 was also the earliest since the Eigth Congress. "Behind this achievement is the laborious and tedious work conducted by our Committee on Finance and its subcommittees," he said in his speech during the last Senate session before the chamber went on break. Aside from the GAA, the Senate also approved on third and final reading Senate Bills (SB) 78, 138, and 2559. SB 78, filed by Senate Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, seeks to increase the minimum wage of household helpers or kasambahays and provide them with additional benefits. The measure requires employers to pay their helpers:
at least P2,500 if they are within Metro Manila, or at least P2,000 if they are in chartered cities and first class municipalities, or at least P1,500 for those working in third class municipalities. SB 138, filed by Senators Antonio Trillanes IV, Franklin Drilon and Pia Cayetano, expands the country’s mandatory basic immunization program for infants to include immunization for Hepatitis B. SB 2559, filed by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, aims to grant Philippine citizenship to American basketball import Marcus Douthit to allow him to play for the Smart Gilas Pilpinas Team in major Asian basketball tournaments. The Senate had likewise adopted 30 resolutions before the holiday break, including resolutions commending: Miss Philippines Venus Raj for being crowned fourth runner-up in the 2010 Miss Universe Pageant last August; Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao for beating Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in November, and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal for his service to the people of Cebu. Aside from this, the chamber had also recently adopted the House resolution concurring with President Benigno Aquino III's Proclamation No. 75, which grants amnesty to former soldiers and policemen involved in at least three attempts to overthrow the Arroyo administration. Enrile said that the Senate primary committees and subcommittees have held a total of 125 public hearings from July to November 2010. At least seven bills are likewise pending final approval by the chamber. "We have laid down legislation that will serve as cornerstones for other laws that may further address the economic needs of our people, build more infrastructures called for by investors to facilitate trade and commerce and generate employment, lessen corruption in government, and establish the proper environment for reconciliation and peace," he said. Before Congress went on break, the Commission on Appointments also confirmed the appointments of four Cabinet secretaries, including: Secretary Armin Luistro, Department of Education; Secretary Alberto Lim, Department of Tourism; Secretary Proceso Alcala, Department of Agriculture; and Secretary Rogelio Singson, Department of Public Works and Highways. - VVP, GMANews.TV 
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