Lawmakers say divorce bill passed with insufficient support

Sheila Crisostomo - The Philippine Star

May 25, 2024 | 10:53am

MANILA, Philippines — Two members, who have been opposing the controversial divorce bill, have questioned the legitimacy of the measure’s passage on May 22, saying it was approved only by a “minority vote.”

Echoing the opinion of former Senate president Tito Sotto, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and CIBAC party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva said House Bill 9349, or the Absolute Divorce Act, did not get the required votes to institute divorce in the country during plenary deliberation last Wednesday.

Rodriguez noted based on the final tally on the floor, it was officially announced that the controversial measure got 126 affirmative, 109 negative and 20 abstentions.

After this, he noted that Velasco issued an advisory setting the votes at 131-109-20.  

“There is an increase of five affirmative votes … This cannot be done as the period and process of voting was completed (May 22) evening when after the votes of each member were cast, these were tabulated and the Speaker (Martin Romualdez) announced the final vote on the floor and properly entered into the Journal,” he added.

For his part, Velasco explained that before the adjournment of session last Wednesday, it turned out that there were affirmative votes that were not recorded by the secretariat.

“The actual votes did not match what was reported by the secretariat. It was immediately corrected,” he pointed out.

The changes in voting were also questioned by Sotto, who posted on his X account that “If Congress is persistent in passing a very debatable law, they can at least follow the proper procedures so it won’t be questionable.”

“You knew I was right. You lost the vote. You massaged it after. How do you sleep at night doing what you do? You want to pass a debatable bill, do it properly,” he maintained.

For his part, Villanueva echoed that divorce bill was only approved by a minority vote. He said neither the 126 nor 131 votes represent half the number of House members.

The lawmaker also questioned Section 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives which provides that a majority of the number of those voting shall decide whether a measure is approved or not. This provision stated an abstention should not be counted as a vote.

Villanueva added this means the bill was approved “only due to an ambiguity in the rules of voting procedures in the House.” — Ghio Ong

Quake victims to get P20 million aid from House

Sheila Crisostomo - The Philippine Star 

Image from the Facebook page of Sarangani Gov. Rogelio Pacquiao shows a damaged room at the municipal offices of Glan. A magnitude 6.8 quake jolted Sarangani, Davao Occidental the other day, affecting Glan and GenSan.

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives has donated some P20 million in aid and 5,000 food packs to the victims of the 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Southern Mindanao last Friday.

Speaker Martin Romualdez and Tingog party-list spearheaded the move in line with the directive of President Marcos for concerned authorities to promptly address the needs of affected families and individuals.

P10 million worth of medical assistance for indigent patients from the Department of Health and another P10 million for individuals in crisis under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be released to the lone districts of Sarangani and South Cotabato, according to House Deputy Secretary General Sofonias Gabonada.

Construction materials will also be sent to the affected residents for the repair and rebuilding of their homes damaged by the earthquake.

Gabonada added that an initial 5,000 relief goods are to be equally divided between the two districts by the Tingog partylist teams.

Romualdez’s office is also closely working with the Department of Public Works and Highways and district lawmakers to facilitate the immediate release of quick response funds (QRF) to rehabilitate the affected public structures like bridges and school buildings.

DSWD assistance

Meanwhile, some P1.47 billion worth of food and non-food items have been allocated by the DSWD for the victims of the earthquake.

According to DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchallian, the agency has enough stockpiles of these supplies “as well as standby funds that could be readily used to augment the resources of the local government units (LGUs)” affected by the quake.

Some P14.2 million QRFs are also ready to be utilized from the DSWD field offices in Northern Mindanao, Davao and Soccsksargen, where the tremors were felt, according to DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Rommel Lopez.

Lopez said the DSWD’s Central Office has P29.16 million in QRFs, which the department can also use to assist victims.

The DSWD also has 140,000 family food packs and non-food items on standby in the affected regions, Lopez said.

Aside from the provision of resource augmentation, the field offices of DSWD are also assisting the affected LGUs in helping injured individuals and in assessing damage.

Gatchalian added that in Soccsksargen, DSWD regional director Loreto Cabaya had already handed over P10,000 in financial aid to each of the families of those  killed in the earthquake.

“All our field offices in the earthquake-hit areas are in constant communication with the LGUs and are ready to provide food, non-food and cash assistance for their affected constituents,” Gatchalian said.

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has also mobilized its emergency medical services teams in the affected areas.

PRC chairman Richard Gordon said their volunteers have given first aid to people injured in the earthquake.

Citing reports from the PRC’s Davao del Sur chapter, Gordon said the earthquakes caused power outages in Digos City as well as the collapse of ceilings of malls in Koronadal and General Santos cities, and a high school in Sarangani. — Emmanuel Tupas