Relampagos pushes to amend Ombudsman law

30. January 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: News

This article was originally published in the Major Stories section of The Bohol Chronicle website 1/30/2011.

With the recent spate of controversies involving the Office of the Ombudsman, Bohol First District Cong. Rene Relampagos is pushing for the amendment of a provision of the law which created the office with the filing of House Bill 4047 last Tuesday.
Restating the declaration of policy of R.A. 6770, he said that public officials must always be held accountable to the people, serve with responsibility, integrity, loyalty, efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.
“But as the State’s bulwark against graft and corruption and other misdeeds in public office or government service, the Office of the Ombudsman should ensure that the legal process should only be employed in the exercise of justice and not as an instrument of political harassment,” Relampagos said.
The First District solon proposes to amend paragraph 2 of Section 26 of R.A. 6770 by specifying a period within which the Office of the Ombudsman must take action on the complaints submitted to it.
As the law presently stands, because no period is given, the parties to the complaint may not be current with the status of the case or as to the decision or resolution of the Ombudsman, the Boholano solon said.
“Thus, a situation may stand where the findings of the office are used, wittingly or unwittingly, to politically harass an opposing party or parties. Or a situation may also exist where the parties concerned are left to speculate on supposed updates of the case given by an ‘insider or colluding entity within the Office of the Ombudsman’ when the case may have already been dismissed by said office,” he added.
To prevent the occurrence of such incidences, the congressman proposes that the Office of the Ombudsman must act on the complaint within 72 hours from the date of receiving the complaint. If the case is found to be baseless, it should be dismissed and the complainant must be informed within fifteen days of such dismissal, informing him of the reasons therefor.
Conversely, the bill proposes that if the Ombudsman finds reasonable grounds to investigate the case, a summary of the complaint must be given to the respondent officer or employee, who must then submit a written answer under oath, within 72 hours from receipt of the summary.
In any event of dismissal, a period of fifteen days is proposed within which the parties to the complaint must be informed of such, without prejudice to any motion or appeal they may legally make.

With the recent spate of controversies involving the Office of the Ombudsman, Bohol First District Cong. Rene Relampagos is pushing for the amendment of a provision of the law which created the office with the filing of House Bill 4047 last Tuesday.

Restating the declaration of policy of R.A. 6770, he said that public officials must always be held accountable to the people, serve with responsibility, integrity, loyalty, efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.

“But as the State’s bulwark against graft and corruption and other misdeeds in public office or government service, the Office of the Ombudsman should ensure that the legal process should only be employed in the exercise of justice and not as an instrument of political harassment,” Relampagos said.

The First District solon proposes to amend paragraph 2 of Section 26 of R.A. 6770 by specifying a period within which the Office of the Ombudsman must take action on the complaints submitted to it.

As the law presently stands, because no period is given, the parties to the complaint may not be current with the status of the case or as to the decision or resolution of the Ombudsman, the Boholano solon said.

“Thus, a situation may stand where the findings of the office are used, wittingly or unwittingly, to politically harass an opposing party or parties. Or a situation may also exist where the parties concerned are left to speculate on supposed updates of the case given by an ‘insider or colluding entity within the Office of the Ombudsman’ when the case may have already been dismissed by said office,” he added.

To prevent the occurrence of such incidences, the congressman proposes that the Office of the Ombudsman must act on the complaint within 72 hours from the date of receiving the complaint. If the case is found to be baseless, it should be dismissed and the complainant must be informed within fifteen days of such dismissal, informing him of the reasons therefor.

Conversely, the bill proposes that if the Ombudsman finds reasonable grounds to investigate the case, a summary of the complaint must be given to the respondent officer or employee, who must then submit a written answer under oath, within 72 hours from receipt of the summary.

In any event of dismissal, a period of fifteen days is proposed within which the parties to the complaint must be informed of such, without prejudice to any motion or appeal they may legally make.

Rene launches collegiate educational assistance program

16. January 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: News
This article was originally published in the Major Stories section of The Bohol Standard website 2/06/2011.
Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of technology and technological training in the 21st century, Bohol First District Congressman Rene Lopez Relampagos filed a bill for the improvement of information technology (IT) education in public schools all over the country.
House Bill 3999, which the First District solon filed in the session of the Fifteenth Congress last January 24, proposes to strengthen computer science education in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide, through the Department of Education (DepEd).
Citing research indicating the general lack of availability of computer education in public schools and that even in state colleges and universities the ratio in a computer class is often ten or even twenty students for every computer unit, the neophyte congressman stressed the urgency for the Filipino youth to be globally competitive.
“With almost every profession and trade becoming digital and with business process outsourcing being the fastest-growing industry in our country, it would be a grave disservice to our children if we do not equip them with the skills and knowledge that they will need to live and to make a living in this age of information technology,” Relampagos reasoned.
Substantially adopting the Computer Science Education Act of 2010 which is pending the United States Congress, the bill pushes for the development of a comprehensive plan for public computer science education, subject for review every two years, which will, among others: assess public elementary and secondary school needs for IT education, especially in rural areas; ensure access to computer science courses even among under-represented sectors; ensure grade-appropriate IT concepts from Grade 1 through Grade 6; include IT education in the core curriculum for high school students; provide for computer science distance learning programs; and develop and improve certification programs for computer science teachers.
The First District solon stressed that the focus in computer science education should not only be on applied IT skills but, more importantly, on developing core computer science knowledge.
The bill also proposes the creation of the Commission on Computer Science Education, which will provide recommendations to the Secretary of Education for the expansion and improvement of public IT education nationwide, review the state of IT education in public elementary and secondary schools, and review computer science teacher certification requirements and processes.
The commission would be composed of a senior official from the DepEd, an IT expert from the Department of Science and Technology, a representative of an elementary or secondary computer education practitioner organization, a public elementary or secondary computer science teacher, a social scientist with expertise on equity issues of IT education, and a representative of the computing industry or of an industry that depends on computing services.
Relampagos comments that the bill would be complementary to the also-pending House Bill No. 0976 filed in Congress by Representatives Augusto Syjuco and Rosenda Ann Ocampo, who propose that proceeds from gross receipts tax imposed on cellular phone companies be used to finance the computer literacy programs of public schools.
The Boholano solon, who was also a college professor prior to his political career, also sits as the vice chairperson of the House Committee on Information and Communications Technology and as a member of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education.

This article was originally published in the Major Stories section of The Bohol Standard website 1/16/2011.

On the occasion of the Feast of the Blessed Sto. Niño, Congressman Rene Lopez Relampagos of the First Congressional Distict of Bohol launched REAP, a special educational assistance program for financially hard-up but deserving students of the First District who have graduated from high school and are pursuing collegiate studies.

REAP, or the Relampagos Educational Assistance Program, will initially benefit four hundred students from the First District who are currently enrolled in any of the province’s colleges and universities.

Under the program, every qualified student-beneficiary will be provided a one-time per semester financial assistance of P2,500.

To avail of the program, only the following requirements need to be submitted: a letter of intent addressed to Cong. Rene L. Relampagos and duly noted by the parents; certification from the School Registrar that the applicant is currently enrolled in their school; and a certification that the applicant is financially hard-up from any of the following offices: the Municipal or Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer, Municipal Mayor or Vice-Mayor, or the Punong Barangay or Sangguniang Kabataan Chairman of the barangay.

To initially fund the program, Cong. Relampagos has allocated one million pesos from his Priority Development Assistance Fund for the purpose. The amount will be released to the provincial government, which will administer the fund to see to it that payments and releases under the program are made in accordance with existing government accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

It may be recalled that during the time that Cong. Relampagos served as governor from 1995 to 2001, he founded and established the Carlos P. Garcia Scholarship Program in tandem with incumbent Governor Edgar M. Chatto. The said program has been sustained to the present and has benefited many poor but deserving Boholano youth.

Applications to Rene’s REAP should be submitted to the Cong. Rene L. Relampagos District Office, located at the groundfloor of the Provincial Capitol Commercial Complex, along Marapao St., Tagbilaran City.

Airport and human rights get Relampagos’ focus at House

09. January 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: News

This article was originally published in the Major Stories section of The Bohol Chronicle website 1/9/2011.

Even as he looks forward to another year of legislation in the House of Representatives, with the regular session about to resume on January 17, Bohol First District Congressman Rene Relampagos, at the turn of 2011, expressed his gratitude to the people of the First District for putting their confidence in him and for the privilege and opportunity of serving them in Congress.
Relampagos recalled his first months in the Fifteenth Congress, the first weeks of which saw him entrusted with the chairpersonship of the House Committee on Human Rights, as vice-chair of the Committee on Information Communication Technology, and as a member in the committees on Transportation, Tourism, Higher and Technical Education, and Accounts.
The First District solon’s first six months also saw him as the primary mover in the House of Representatives for the realization of the New Bohol Airport, launched last November 18 and 19 by Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, along with nine other priority projects for 2011 under the public-private partnership (PPP) financing mode.
Formerly the Panglao International Airport Project, the New Bohol Airport was the subject of the visit of a composite site assessment team from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in mid-September last year.
It is seen that the Tagbilaran Airport can no longer support even current air traffic to the province since, apart from the shortness of the runway, the current terminal is limited in its capacity to handle departures and arrivals.
With the province now a prime eco-cultural tourism destination and considering its projected growth in the national tourism industry, Relampagos sees that the implementation of the 234-hectare New Bohol Airport is critical to the continued development of the province.
Earlier in the year, he had confirmed that Panglao is the official site of the New Bohol Airport since this was verified to him both by Usec. Ruben Reinoso Jr., the DOTC undersecretary for Planning, and Director Inky Lucban, DOTC director for Planning and Policy.
The first-termer solon’s first months in Congress also saw him deliver his first privilege speech before his colleagues in the chamber, speaking in behalf of the rights of senior citizens and pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System and proposing a system for assistance upgrade in the GSIS.
In celebration of the National Human Rights Consciousness Week, Relampagos, was the keynote speaker for the House’s flag raising ceremony for the entire month of December.
A month earlier, he had given the keynote address in a human rights-based legislation seminar sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
As chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, Relampagos, who posted perfect attendance in all 45 session days of Congress last year, has been pushing for priority human rights measures.
Among these are the Internal Displacement Act, the Commission on Human Rights Act, the Anti-Summary Killings Law, the Red Cross and Other Emblems bill, which was approved at the committee level last December, and a law granting compensation for victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime.
The Internal Displacement Act will prevent the occurrence of and protect persons from the effects of internal displacements which may occur in times of armed conflict, situations of general violence, or other natural or human-made disasters.
The Commission on Human Rights Act would further define and delineate the organizational structure of the commission and will grant much-needed concurrent prosecutorial powers to the CHR.
Among the other accomplishments of the neophyte congressman in his first months in Congress are the filing of bills for mandatory collegiate scholarship for the underprivileged, for strengthening and rationalizing the Career Executive Service, for the use of plain language in government; for the nationalization of certain provincial roads in the First Congressional District, for the establishment of TESDA learning centers in the First District; the extension of assistance to constituent barangays of the First District; and the representation of the country before parliamentarians of the European Union.

Even as he looks forward to another year of legislation in the House of Representatives, with the regular session about to resume on January 17, Bohol First District Congressman Rene Relampagos, at the turn of 2011, expressed his gratitude to the people of the First District for putting their confidence in him and for the privilege and opportunity of serving them in Congress.

Relampagos recalled his first months in the Fifteenth Congress, the first weeks of which saw him entrusted with the chairpersonship of the House Committee on Human Rights, as vice-chair of the Committee on Information Communication Technology, and as a member in the committees on Transportation, Tourism, Higher and Technical Education, and Accounts.

The First District solon’s first six months also saw him as the primary mover in the House of Representatives for the realization of the New Bohol Airport, launched last November 18 and 19 by Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, along with nine other priority projects for 2011 under the public-private partnership (PPP) financing mode.

Formerly the Panglao International Airport Project, the New Bohol Airport was the subject of the visit of a composite site assessment team from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) in mid-September last year.

It is seen that the Tagbilaran Airport can no longer support even current air traffic to the province since, apart from the shortness of the runway, the current terminal is limited in its capacity to handle departures and arrivals.

With the province now a prime eco-cultural tourism destination and considering its projected growth in the national tourism industry, Relampagos sees that the implementation of the 234-hectare New Bohol Airport is critical to the continued development of the province.

Earlier in the year, he had confirmed that Panglao is the official site of the New Bohol Airport since this was verified to him both by Usec. Ruben Reinoso Jr., the DOTC undersecretary for Planning, and Director Inky Lucban, DOTC director for Planning and Policy.

The first-termer solon’s first months in Congress also saw him deliver his first privilege speech before his colleagues in the chamber, speaking in behalf of the rights of senior citizens and pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System and proposing a system for assistance upgrade in the GSIS.

In celebration of the National Human Rights Consciousness Week, Relampagos, was the keynote speaker for the House’s flag raising ceremony for the entire month of December.

A month earlier, he had given the keynote address in a human rights-based legislation seminar sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).

As chairperson of the House Committee on Human Rights, Relampagos, who posted perfect attendance in all 45 session days of Congress last year, has been pushing for priority human rights measures.

Among these are the Internal Displacement Act, the Commission on Human Rights Act, the Anti-Summary Killings Law, the Red Cross and Other Emblems bill, which was approved at the committee level last December, and a law granting compensation for victims of human rights abuses during the Marcos regime.

The Internal Displacement Act will prevent the occurrence of and protect persons from the effects of internal displacements which may occur in times of armed conflict, situations of general violence, or other natural or human-made disasters.

The Commission on Human Rights Act would further define and delineate the organizational structure of the commission and will grant much-needed concurrent prosecutorial powers to the CHR.

Among the other accomplishments of the neophyte congressman in his first months in Congress are the filing of bills for mandatory collegiate scholarship for the underprivileged, for strengthening and rationalizing the Career Executive Service, for the use of plain language in government; for the nationalization of certain provincial roads in the First Congressional District, for the establishment of TESDA learning centers in the First District; the extension of assistance to constituent barangays of the First District; and the representation of the country before parliamentarians of the European Union.

House issues code of conduct for members

04. January 2011 · Comments Off · Categories: News

This article was originally published in the Breaking News section of INQUIRER.NET, 01/04/2011. It was written by Lira Dalangin-Fernandez.

MANILA, Philippines – This is a first in the House of Representatives: The chamber has come up with a code of conduct to ensure that its members uphold the integrity and credibility of the institution.

Under the 10-point code, House members may not receive compensation from any source and may not use their influence on any person or group or institution in exchange for money.

They are prohibited from simultaneously holding office or employment in another government agency and from receiving extra salary for such work.

They should not use their influence on or appeal as counsel before any judicial or quasi-judicial body.

Violation of the code of conduct may be the subject of investigation by the committee on ethics for disorderly behavior, which may result in suspension not exceeding sixty days.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said the code of conduct under Rule 19 of the House Rules was approved on December 19 in plenary. It was released as a congressman, Ronald Singson of Ilocos Sur, is in jail in Hong Kong after he was arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

Singson’s detention has prompted Belmonte to call for an investigation amid mounting pressure for the congressman, son of Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson, to step down.

“No House has ever done this, the 15th congress is the first to actually come out with a code of conduct,” Belmonte said.

Below is the Code of Conduct for House members:

Rule XIX
Code of Conduct for members of the House of Representatives

A. A member shall act at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House;
B. A member shall adhere to the spirit and letter of the rules of the House and to the rules of the committees;
C. A member may not receive compensation or any pecuniary interest and may not permit compensation or any pecuniary interest to accrue to the member’s beneficial interest from any source, the receipt of which would occur by virtue of influence improperly exerted from the member’s position in Congress;
D. A member shall not hold any other office or employment in the government, or any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof, including government-owned or controlled-corporations or subsidiaries, during the member’s term without forfeiting the member’s seat in the House;
E. A member shall not also be appointed to any office created or the emoluments thereof increased during the member’s term;
F. A member shall not personally appear as counsel before any court of justice, the electoral tribunals, or any quasi-judicial or administrative body or be directly or indirectly financially interested in any contract with or in any franchise or special privilege granted by the government, or any subdivision, agency or instrumentality thereof, including any government-owned or controlled corporation, or its subsidiaries, during the member’s term of office;
G. A member shall not intervene in any matter before any office of the government for personal pecuniary benefit or where the member may be called upon to act on account of the member’s office;
H. A member shall not acquire or receive any personal pecuniary interest in any specific business enterprise which will be directly and particularly favored or benefited by any law or resolution authored by the member that is approved or adopted by Congress during the member’s term. It shall be unlawful for the member to continue to retain such interest thirty days after such approval;
I. A member may not authorize or allow an individual, group or organization not under the direction and control of the House to use the words “Congress of the Philippines,” “House of Representatives” or “Official Business,” or any combination of these words, or the seal of the House of Representatives, or any other representation thereof on any letterhead or envelope or for any other purpose; and,
J. A member shall not disclose any classified information received in the course of the service with the House of Representatives, except as authorized by the House of Representatives or in accordance with its rules.