ShareThisPASAY CITY – Congress is now on six-week break and will resume its regular sessions on May 9 in time for the Senate to start the impeachment proceedings against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez.
Since it resumed its session last January, the Senate approved on third reading five bills, namely the proposed GOCC Governance Act, the proposed Career Executive System Act, a bill Decriminalizing Vagrancy, and two proposed amendments to the Family Code.
The GOCC Governance Act of 2011 (SBN 2640), sponsored by Sen. Franklin Drilon, aims to reform the structure and operations of GOCCs to exact from them efficient and effective public service. It also proposes the creation of the Government Commission for GOCCs (GCG) as a central advisory and oversight body.
The Career Executive System Act (SBN 2671) seeks to strengthen the bureaucracy by professionalizing the ranks of government managers and executives. Authored by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the bill seeks to minimize political appointments and ensure that all government officials are eligible under the Civil Service Law.
Another measure that was approved was a bill Decriminalizing Vagrancy (SBN 2726), sponsored by Sen. Francis Escudero. The measure proposes to remove vagrancy as a criminal offense in the Revised Penal Code because it is “often used to take advantage of people who cannot really stand up for themselves.”
Senate Bill No. 480 amends Article 3 of the Family Code which states that a “spouse of age” has the right to dispose exclusive properties without the consent of the other spouse. Under the proposed bill, the term “spouse of age” is to be replaced by the term “either spouse” as it is superfluous, since a spouse must “necessarily be of age to enter into a contract of marriage,” according to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Likewise, Senate Bill No. 1052 amends Article 26 of the Family Code, stating that “where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse (capacitating him or her to remarry), the Filipino spouse shall likewise have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.”
These two amendments to the Family Code (SBN 480 and 1052) are now both pending in the House of Representatives.