Villar among top filers of bills, resolutions in Senate

By Christina Mendez
from : The Philippine Star
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=539035&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. has been consistently among the top filers of bills and resolutions in the Senate since he joined the 12th Congress in 2001.

Records showed that Villar has the second most number of legislation filed in the Senate with 737 bills and resolutions as of Dec. 31, 2009. He follows consistent top filer Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago with 1,231.

In 2009 alone, Villar filed a total of 158 bills and resolutions (24 bills and 134 resolutions).

The Senate Bills and Index Service provides the statistics after each Congress, based on recent available data.

The top 10 filers are as follows: Santiago, Villar, Jinggoy Estrada, 622; Lito Lapid, 398; Chiz Escudero, 372; Loren Legarda, 359; Bong Revilla, 341; Antonio Trillanes, 341, Dick Gordon, 228; and Mar Roxas, 226.

In a study conducted by Dr. Ebinezer Florano, chair of the Master of Public Management Program of UP Open University, he cited that of the 21 Republic Acts or RAs approved by both Houses of Congress and duly signed by President Arroyo during the 14th Congress, Villar authored and co-authored 10 bills that eventually became laws.

Based on the study, Villar is followed by Estrada, with nine; Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile with eight; and Senators Edgardo Angara, Legarda, Revilla, and Miguel Zubiri with seven each. Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Gordon have five each; Senators Pia Cayetano, Santiago, Escudero, Lapid, and Roxas have four each; Senators Nene Pimentel and Trillanes have three each; Senators Noynoy Aquino, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Gringo Honasan two each; and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan has one. Senators Joker Arroyo, Ping Lacson, and Jamby Madrigal have none.

Meanwhile, Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro continues to maintain his lead over other presidential rivals in the latest survey results of Facebook networking site.

In the round eight of Facebook’s “Election 2010” voting last Jan. 5, Teodoro garnered 34.17 percent of votes next to Bangon Pilipinas’ Eddie Villanueva with 30.92 percent, Gordon, 17.80 percent and Aquino with 12.04 percent.

Meanwhile, Teodoro’s running mate, former Optical Media Board (OMB) chair Edu Manzano, is batting for the creation of an extra bureau patterned after the United States Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to deal with private armies and gun smugglers in the country.

Noynoy-Mar strongest in urban areas

Meanwhile, the Liberal Party (LP) said yesterday its standard-bearer, Sen. Aquino and his running mate, Sen. Roxas were strongest in urban areas where dissatisfaction over President Arroyo was also very high.

LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad cited the case of Davao City where a recent survey showed Aquino garnering 45.44 percent of the votes and Roxas, 47.32 percent.

The survey was conducted by the Hugpong Davao during the period Dec. 17 to 22 with 6,600 respondents in 300 clustered population areas in the three congressional and 11 administrative districts of the city.

Meanwhile, LP local executives sounded the alarm yesterday against the start of another administration blitzkrieg against them — this time, through the sudden replacement of police chiefs and schools division superintendents without their knowledge. — With Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude