Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Senate of the 19th Congress is to blame for the failure to advance meaningful legislations like the Absolute Divorce Bill and the minimum wage hike proposal.
This is the statement of Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas on Thursday.
Brosas said the failure to approve the proposed Wage Hike for Minimum Wage Workers Act shows a clear lack of sympathy with minimum wage earners who are still struggling to make ends meet.
The 19th Congress ended its session on Wednesday with neither the Senate nor the House ratifying a final version of the bill nor adopting another chamber鈥檚 proposal.
This was because a consensus on how much the minimum wage should increase was not reached.
鈥淎s a member of the bicameral panel, we in the Gabriela Women鈥檚 Party, fought for the legislated wage increase [that] our workers have long waited for,鈥� Brosas said.
鈥淔ailure to post this is a clear lack of sympathy with minimum wage workers who continue to live through meager salaries,鈥� she added.
The House last Wednesday approved House Bill (HB) No. 11376 or the proposed Wage Hike For Minimum Wage Workers Act.
The measure pushes for a P200 increase in the per-day salaries of minimum wage earners.
The Senate version, Senate Bill (SB) No. 2534, which was approved in February 2024, meanwhile, seeks a P100-daily minimum wage increase.
READ: House OKs P200 minimum聽wage聽hike聽on final reading聽
Due to the differences between the bills, a bicameral conference committee should be convened so that both chambers can come up with a final version.
This final version of the bill, contained in a bicameral conference committee report, should be ratified by the House and the Senate separately during a plenary session.
After this, the measure will be forwarded to the president for his signature.
However, there were reports that the House and the Senate were in a deadlock, as House committee on labor and employment chairperson and Rizal 4th District Rep. Juan Fidel Nograles preferred a bicameral conference committee.
He believes tackling the matter in the bicam will make the discussions more transparent.
Nograles said the House would not agree to just merely adopt the Senate version of the measure.
READ: 19th Congress ends session without ratifying wage hike bill聽
Regarding divorce, the House last May 22 approved HB No. 9349 or the proposed聽Absolute聽Divorce聽Act, with 131 lawmakers voting in favor of the bill, 109 voting in the negative, while 20 abstained.
While the House was almost split in half, making it the most contentious measure to be discussed in the House during the 19th Congress, the bill was still approved and sent to the Senate.
However, the Senate did not act on the proposed measure, with Senate President Francis Escudero saying that he will neither support or oppose the divorce bill.
READ: Escudero says he will neither push for or against divorce bill
鈥淭he refusal of the Senate to pass the Absolute Divorce Bill is an abandonment of women who are victims of violence and families who need a second chance in life,鈥� Brosas emphasized.
鈥淎cross the world, only we and the Vatican do not have divorce, which brings shame and injustice,鈥� she pointed out.
鈥淏oth Houses should act to ensure that the sacrifices of the people will not go to waste. We cannot just allow selfish politics to prevail instead of true justice, and the push for people鈥檚 welfare,鈥� she said.
Aside from these two measures, Brosas also chided the Senate for remanding the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte to the House, even if the verified complaint adhered to provisions of the Constitution on the accountability of public officers.
鈥淗ave some shame. It is not the duty of the Senate to send back the Articles of Impeachment,鈥� the lawmaker told the senators.
鈥淚t is clear in the Constitution that it is the exclusive right of the House to start the impeachment, and the Senate has to try cases. What they did is a clear violation of the processes and the Constitution,鈥� she observed.
鈥淭he Senate鈥檚 attempt to steer the impeachment towards stalling is obvious. This is a violation of due process and an affront to the public鈥檚 demand for accountability,鈥� she claimed.
On Tuesday evening, 18 senator-judges voted in favor of the motion introduced by Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano, which effectively sends back the Articles of Impeachment against the vice president to the House.
This was reportedly meant to ensure that constitutional safeguards and issues of jurisdiction were not violated.
Two issues were mentioned:
First, there are concerns about whether the Articles of Impeachment did not violate the provision of the Constitution stating that only one impeachment complaint can be initiated against an impeachable official.
Second, there are views that the articles should not step on the jurisdiction and authority of the 20th Congress.
READ: Senate votes to send Duterte impeachment back to House聽
On Wednesday, prosecution team member and Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro said that they will file a motion to seek clarification from the Senate, acting as an impeachment court, regarding its decision to remand the articles.
Until their questions are addressed, Luistro said the House would defer the acceptance of the returned articles.
She, however, clarified that their actions are not in defiance of the Senate order, but it is just a desire to clarify possible issues.
After the return of the impeachment articles was formally deferred, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez expressed concerns over the move of Senate.
READ: Remand of impeachment articles concerning, but we鈥檒l comply 鈥� Speaker聽
According to Romualdez, they will comply with the directive of the Senate, but this is only to ensure that the impeachment process pushes through./apl