The Official Website of Rene Relampagos

This article was originally published in the Major Stories section of The Bohol Chronicle website 12/19/2010.

Right after its last session day for the year, the House of Representatives, led by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., honored last Tuesday select congressmen who had distinguished themselves in the first regular session of the Fifteenth Congress, with Bohol First District Rep. Rene Relampagos among the honorees.

The first-termer solon is one of only 43 congressmen who posted perfect attendance in all 45 session days of Congress since July this year. This number accounts for about only 15 percent of the total membership of the House, as it currently comprises 283 congressmen, including partylist representatives.

The honorees, more than half of whom were new in Congress and who counted Belmonte and Reps. Edcel Lagman and Roilo Golez among them, were each given signature Parker pens engraved with their name as tokens.

Citations were also given for the top three congressmen who had filed the most bills and for the top three congressmen who attended the most committee hearings.

The citations were given during the House of Representatives’s Christmas Party held right after adjournment of the session and which was graced by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III himself.

Thus far, the neophyte solon from Bohol has already personally authored 14 House bills and other measures and co-authored 16.

Rep. Relampagos is chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, one of the major standing committees of Congress, and sits as vice chairperson of the Committee on Information and Communications Technology and as member of the House committees on Accounts, on Higher and Technical Education, on Tourism, and on Transportation.

This article was originally published in the Bohol Times (December 19, 2010).

Stressing plain language as a matter of right under the freedom of expression and taking cue from developed countries, Bohol First District Representative Rene Relampagos is espousing the use of plain language in the matters of government.

“Government communications should be understandable by everyone, not just people with masters or doctorate degrees,” he states in the bill he filed before the House of Representatives last Thursday.

Relampagos said that the purpose of the bill is to improve the effectiveness and accountability of government agencies to the public by promoting clear government communication that the public can understand and use.

In the bill which the Boholano solon proposes to be known as the Plain Language Law of 2010, government agencies and offices will be mandated to use plain language in documents of public concern or that it will issue to the public.

The bill defines “plain language” as any writing in Filipino or English that is clear, concise, well-organized, and follows other best practices appropriate to the subject or field and the intended audience.

Relampagos added that plain language should be easy to read, understood, and used as possible, allowing for the complexity of a given subject. It would also involve techniques in design and document layout which affect readability.

Under the proposed bill, the documents that should be expressed or written in plain language should be those that are necessary for obtaining any benefit or service from the government or in the filing of taxes; those which provide information about any benefit or service from the government; those that explain to the public how to comply with a requirement which the government administers or enforces; and those that do not involve a regulation.

The bill also includes letters, publications, forms, notices, and instructions, whether in paper or in electronic form.

Relampagos holds that legislation is necessary in advocating plain writing since, without it, government agencies and offices in the country may consider it only as a temporary project and not a continuing requirement.

He cited that Sweden has already been using plain language in governance for 30 years and that South Africa’s Constitution is written in plain language and requires plain language.

The first-termer solon added that the United States had just recently passed its Plain Writing Act of 2010, which was signed into law last October, and that New Zealand also mandates the use of plain writing in matters of public concern, in accordance with its Code of Conduct for State Services.

This article was originally published in the Breaking News section of INQUIRER.NET, 12/16/2010. It was written by Lira Dalangin-Fernandez.

MANILA, Philippines —A total of 43 lawmakers out of the 283-member House of Representatives got perfect attendance in the first 45 days of session, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said Thursday.

But the accomplishment report Belmonte presented to journalists did not contain those frequently skipping sessions. When asked about this, the House leader told the media to refer to the daily journals of the chamber.

For not missing a session, he said the 43 lawmakers, representing 15 percent of the total House membership, received a Parker ballpen as a token and that their names were announced in the chamber.

And for the frequent absentees, Belmonte said: “Let’s face it, you will be the one to do the honor roll for them. Our honor roll is for those who worked.”

Belmonte is among those who did not register an absence during the sessions.

Aside from Belmonte, the lawmakers who got perfect attendance were Representatives Pedro Acharon Jr. (South Cotabato), Romeo Acop (Antipolo City), Emmeline Aglipay (DIWA partylist), Rodolfo Albano Jr. (Isabela), Tomas Apacible (Batangas), Diosdado “Dato” Arroyo (Camarines Sur), Amado Bagatsing (Manila), Jorge John Banal (Quezon City), Elpidio Barzaga Jr., (Cavite), Leopoldo Bataoil (Pangasinan),

Imelda Calixto-Rubiano (Pasay City), Winston Castelo (Quezon City), Jane Castro (Capiz), Emrique Cojuangco (Tarlac), Maximo Dalog (Mountain Province), Raul Daza (Northern Samar), Rachel Del Mar (Cebu), Salvador Escudero III (Sorsogon), Ben Ebardone (Eastern Samar), Erico Basilio Fabian (Zamboanga City),

Rodolfo Farinas (Ilocos Norte), Salvio Fortuno (Camarines Norte), Albert Garcia (Bataan), Roilo Golez (Paranaque), Agapito Guanlao (Butil partylist), Nur Jaafar (Tawi-Tawi), David Kho (Senior Citizen partylist), Edcel Lagman (Albay), Eleandro Jesus Madrona (Romblon), Niel Montejo (AN Waray partylist), Florencio “Bem Noel (AN Waray).

Angelo Palmones (Agham partylist), Rene Relampagos (Bohol), Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro), Herminia Roman (Batanes), Jesus Sacdalan (North Cotabato), Raden Sakaluran (Sultan Kudarat), Cesar Sarmiento (Catanduanes), Mel Sarmiento (Western Samar), Marcelino Teodoro (Marikina), Niel Tupas Jr. (Iloilo), and Jose Ma. Zubiri III (Bukidnon).

Belmonte also boasted of the House’s ratification of the “most important piece of legislation,” referring to the P1.645-trillion General Appropriations Bill for 2011.

The House ratified the budget bill Tuesday before it went on Christmas break. Congress will resume sessions on January 17.

Of the 4,697 bills and resolutions filed, 21 bills have been approved on third reading, including several measures of national significance such as the protection of students’ rights to enroll in review centers act; bill providing for a longer period for the rectification of simulated births; bill authorizing the court to require community service in lieu of imprisonment for light offenses; the act prescribing the code of national flag, anthem, motto, coat-of-arms and other heraldic items and devices of the Philippines; and the bill amending the Revised Penal Code to give the fullest benefit if preventive imprisonment.

A total of six bills have hurdled plenary debates and have passed second reading, including the bill institutionalizing kindergarten education into the basic education system.

As for the performance of the committees, Belmonte said the committee on transportation had the most number of hearings at 15, followed by the ways and means committee (12), and energy committee (11).

Belmonte also said that they have approved a rule that would expedite the hearings on bills that have reached plenary level in the last Congress.

The Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council is expected to convene in January after Malacañang has finalized its list of priority measures, he also said.