Incoming Speaker bares legislative agenda

By: DJ Yap | 02:03 AM June 15th, 2016

THE 17TH Congress will spend its maiden year pushing three ambitious items on the incoming Duterte administration’s agenda: the switch to a federal government, restoration of the death penalty and lowering of the age of criminal liability, according to the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

At the Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum on Tuesday, the returning Davao del Norte representative spoke of the priority measures that would occupy the legislature in the next three years.

The first item—shift to federalism—will necessitate not only constitutional amendments but a “revision” of the 1987 Constitution, with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte expressing a preference for a constitutional convention that will amend it, said Alvarez, a close friend handpicked by Duterte to lead the House.

“A constitutional convention (Con-con) would be very expensive and very long. A constituent assembly (Con-ass) would be easier and less expensive. But I guess the President wants a constitutional convention so people don’t say it’s self-serving,” he said.

A Con-con would require an election of the convention delegates, while a Con-ass would only involve the bicameral Congress convening itself and proposing amendments to the Charter.

The third method—a people’s initiative—will only apply to amendments to individual provisions, Alvarez said.

“But still, we need to look at the consensus in Congress, on what mode they will prefer,” he said.

The plan is to hold the election of delegates simultaneously with the barangay elections in October.

“Maybe we can slightly delay the barangay election so we can include the election of the delegates to save money for the government,” Alvarez said.

For almost two hours, he fielded questions on his legislative agenda, his leadership style, his friendship with Duterte, his hopes for Congress.

Speaking in a relaxed mix of English and Filipino, Alvarez showed a penchant for pithy one-liners and was prepared with anecdotes.

“Those of us in the majority, we believe in the programs of the present administration. Whatever those programs are, we will support them. Let’s give the President the chance to succeed. He wants to change the nation. That’s not easy to do. He needs the support of Congress, of the people,” he said.

A federal system, he said, would open a lot of economic opportunities for local governments.

“We have been through [a unitary form of government] since we started, until now, we’re still in dire straits. Maybe it’s now time to consider another form of government,” he said.

All up for revision

“Under a federal setup, there will be a lot of opportunities in provinces and regions. They will be empowered to control their own economy and natural resources. They will have the chance to chart their own destinies,” he added.

ALVAREZ BRIEFING Incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez gives the Inquirer a preview of the legislative priorities of the incoming administration under President Duterte. RICHARD A. REYES

Alvarez also talked about the possibility of extending Duterte’s term of office through constitutional amendments, noting that a Con-con would “open up” all provisions of the Constitution to revision.

“When we call for a Con-con, we open everything for revision, including all articles of the present Constitution,” he said. “You can’t avoid discussion about that (term limits). It would all depend on the results of the convention.”

The Philippine president has a nonextensible six-year term.

Alvarez said that in the first two years of the Duterte administration, he planned to reinstate capital punishment for heinous crimes. During the campaign, Duterte had promised to reinstate the death penalty.

As mayor for over two decades in Davao City, Duterte is known for his iron-fist stance on crime, and is known to have links to “death squads” notorious for killing criminals in the city.

Addressing arguments that the death penalty was not known to be a deterrent to crime, Alvarez argued that: “There’s been no death penalty for many years but crime is still increasing.”

The death penalty was abolished under the 1987 Constitution with the caveat that it may be reimposed, with Congress approval, for heinous crimes. It was reimposed during the administration of Fidel V. Ramos and Joseph Estrada, and stopped during the term of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Criminal responsibility

Alvarez said the third legislative priority was to lower the age of criminal responsibility under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, or Republic Act No. 9344, which exempts children 15 years and below from criminal liability but subjects them to an intervention program.

On the other hand, children older than 15 but younger than 18 shall also be exempt from criminal liability and be subjected to an intervention program unless they “acted with discernment.”

That law was actually amended in 2013 through RA 10630 or the Act Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System in the Philippines. But it retained the age of criminal liability.

MEET AND GREET Incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez receives “The INQUIRER Story: 30 Years of Shaping History’’ from PDI chair Marixi Rufino-Prieto during the Meet INQUIRER Multimedia forum on Tuesday. Behind are (from left) Alvarez’s daughter Paola Alvarez, executive editor Jose Ma. Nolasco and INQUIRER president/CEO Sandy Prieto-Romualdez. RICHARD A. REYES

“This has posed a lot of problems,” Alvarez said.

“We received a lot of complaints from law enforcement authorities about minors who couldn’t be charged. It was originally 9, then they raised it to 15. I’m not questioning the intent of the law. The problem is implementation. Fifteen-year-olds are being used for committing crimes,” he said.

Other proposed bills

Alvarez said the passage of the freedom of information bill should be an easy task. “That’s practically done. We only need to refile. I think that will be approved quickly,” he said.

On proposals to raise the value-added tax from 10 to 15 percent, he said: “If it needs an amendment from the present law, we will talk about that. I think that will be a priority because that’s revenue of the country. That’s important.”

“Congress will always be on the side of people… There will be public hearings; we will listen to them,” he said.

On the P2,000 increase for Social Security System pensioners, Alvarez said he personally favored it: “I am for that. Let us see how the new Congress receives it, and what the majority will agree on.”

On the lifting of the bank secrecy law, he said there was a need to study it. “That issue is not easy. We need to hear the side of everyone involved, bankers, depositors, everybody.”