Senators of 13th Congress: Far too many hearings, very few reports

After the friction over the Senate presidency, 14th Congress senators are now jostling for the committee chairmanships. But what comes after the haggling for the much coveted posts?

Looking back, the 13th Congress senators had called for more meetings and hearings but produced fewer committee reports compared to the previous Senate.

In 2005, media had a field day as the Senate followed the jueteng exposes at the House of Representatives and conducted its own series of public hearings on the illegal numbers game.

Eight hearings in all, but neither law nor closure to the controversy arose from the inquiry. The four committees that conducted the highly publicized hearings failed to produce a committee report that was supposed to consolidate their findings and recommendations in aid of legislation. The 13th Congress ended with the issue still pending at the committee level.

The jueteng inquiry was among 792 meetings and hearings conducted by the Senate’s permanent committees throughout the 13th Congress. More than half of this number are public hearings (411), some of which are high profile and extensively covered by the media. These public hearings/committee meetings produced 310 committee reports (Note: One committee report can consolidate discussions in several committee hearings.)

“These hearings and meetings are supposed to thresh out recommendations, review policies and make the necessary changes in the proposed laws," says Makati Business Club Research Associate Edward Gacusana. “If nothing comes out of these hearings, what now? People would end up frustrated… bitin ang legislative process pag walang output." The MBC regularly publishes studies and reports that look into the performance of the country’s legislators.

Director Eduardo Garvida of the Senate Committee Affairs Bureau says the hearings in themselves are important--even without the reports. “Mas matatakot yung gumagawa ng kalokohan dahil sa mga Senate inquiries," he says.

The Senate Committee on Finance conducted the most number of public hearings/committee meetings among the permanent committees during the past Congress. Chaired by Sen. Manuel Villar, Jr., most of the hearings were on the proposed budgets of various government offices. (see table below)

Some committees conducted public hearings/committee meetings, but did not come up with any committee reports.

• The Committee on Cooperatives chaired by Sen. Alfredo Lim held 16 meetings/hearings on creating the Cooperative Development Authority and amending the Cooperative Code of the Philippines.
  

• The Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation chaired by Sen. Edgardo Angara held 8 meetings/hearings on peace talks and internal security threats.
  

• The Committee on Cultural Communities chaired by Sen. Jamby Madrigal held 7 public hearings on (among others) the displacement of certain indigenous communities.

The following permanent committees did not conduct any public hearings/committee meetings during the 13th Congress and consequently did not produce any committee reports:

• Committee on Accounts - chaired by Sen. Manuel Villar, Jr.; has jurisdiction on the auditing and adjustment of accounts chargeable against the Senate’s funds
  

• Committee on Agrarian Reform - chaired by Sen. Ralph Recto; has jurisdiction on agrarian reform, landed estates, and implementation of the agrarian land reform provisions of the Constitution
  

• Committee on Ethics and Privileges (no assigned chairman) - no activity during the 13th Congress; has jurisdiction on the conduct, rights, privileges, safety, dignity, integrity and reputation of the Senate and its members

The fate of a proposed law is determined at the committee level. It is at this stage when legislators analyze the contents of the bill and consult experts, putting the proposal under the sharpest scrutiny.

From time to time, legislators call for public hearings to consider public sentiments on a proposed law’s possible repercussions. Sometimes, these hearings are triggered by current events--allegations of corruption, man-made disasters, exposes—which prompt legislators to call for inquiries “in aid of legislation".

Garvida notes, however, that not all committee meetings and hearings translate into actual pieces of legislation. “Sometimes, these meetings and hearings are conducted to find out if the proper steps are being taken on certain issues. For example in the case of the Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, the meetings are mostly briefings on the peace process." --GMANews.TV