The Kabataan Party today challenged first termers and members of the 14th Congress to offset its predecessor’s dismal performance by being a more productive and independent legislature.
The youth group issued the challenge as it led some 5,000 members of students groups and militant youth organizations in today’s State of the Nation address (SONA) demonstrations in Commonwealth Avenue near Batasang Pambansa.
“The challenge on the 14th Congress is to restore the public’s faith on the legislature and make Congress the repository of the people’s sovereign will once again. They should prove to us that they are worthy of the people’s vote and support,” Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said.
Palatino warned the members of the 14th Congress not to follow its predecessor which the group considers as “one of the worst Congresses the country ever had.”
“The 13th Congress operated like mindless accomplice to Arroyo’s whims, reducing itself to a band of political mongrels and lapdogs. Its failure to function as a legislative body and produce more human development laws only made life harder for Filipinos. Much of the pitiful condition that Filipinos are currently experiencing should be blamed on the past Congress’ doing or undoing,” he lamented.
“The poor performance of the 13th Congress only mirrors out the failure of the Arroyo government to live up to its promise of making Filipinos’ lives better,” Palatino pointed out.
He cited the study made by Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) which shows the dismal record of the 13th Congress in terms of the number and quality of bills and laws the legislature deliberated for the past three years.
At the House of Representatives, 6,115 bills were filed. Those pending in the committees reached 3,883. Bills approved after third reading were 787. In the Senate, 2,619 bills were filed while only 22 made it to the plenary after passing the 3rd reading. Of the bills approved by both Houses, only 88 were enacted into law. There are 64 pending bills waiting for President Gloria Arroyo’s signature.
Palatino particularly criticized the past Congress’ failure to pass pending bills which would institute much-needed reforms in the education sector. Among the shelved education bills are the proposed moratorium on tuition and other fee increases and amendments to the Education Act of 1982 which deregulated the tuition system.
“The legislature’s inability to act on these proposals did not just cost a setback on education reforms but it meant a lost opportunity for thousands of poor students to continue their education.”
Palatino also blamed the grossly inadequate allocation for education spending and Congress’ previous failures to enact a national budget for the decrepit condition and declining quality of education in the country’s public school system.
He said the tuition hike in the University of the Philippines is a poignant example of the implications of annual cutbacks in state schools’ budget and government thrust to completely handover the control of tertiary education to the private sector.
He however expressed hope that the incoming 14th Congress would veer away from the poor record of its predecessor.
Palatino said the big number of first termers particularly in the Lower House could mean more openness on its part to new and progressive ideas and proposals. There are 106 neophyte lawmakers in the new Lower House.
“But the only way this Congress can do that is by being more independent of Malacanang and by listening more to people’s clamor than to the president’s dictates. The current state of the nation warrants a gutsy Congress that has political will and can stand up to Arroyo.”