59 bills passed by Congress waiting for PNoy's signature –Drilon

A total of 59 bills passed by both houses of Congress are still waiting for President Benigno Aquino III's signature while 116 have already been signed into law during the third regular session of the 16th Congress.

According to records from the office of Senate President Franklin Drilon, among the bills awaiting Aquino's approval are bills for:

- the creation of the Department of Information and Communication Technology

- the Customs and Tariff Modernization Act

- the mandatory installation of speed limiters and setting speed limits for public utility buses

- making election service non-compulsary for public school teachers

- amending the period of collection and utilization of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF)

- the amendments to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation charter.

Drilon said the Senate passed 284 bills including the 59 pending before the Office of the President and the 116 already signed into law.

He said four bills that have been approved by the bicameral conference committee and ratified by the Senate are still waiting ratification by the House of Representatives. These are:

- the modernization of the National Bureau of Investigation

- amending Foreign Ownership Restrictions in specific laws governing adjustment companies, lending companies, financing companies and invetment houses cited in the Foreign Investment Negative List, except those in the Constitution

- the bill banning the reappointment of a regular member of the Judicial and Bar Council who has already served two full terms

- strengthening the Balanced Housing Development Program.

Drilon also said that seven bills are still pending before the bicameral conference committee, including the Salary Standardization Law IV and the bill declaring agricultural smuggling as economic sabotage.

Meanwhile, 98 bills approved on third reading were yet to be acted upon.

Drilon said the present Congress had many first including the imprisonment of three seating senators, namely Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile, who was later released on bail, and Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. The three are implicated in the alleged pork barrel scam. —KBK, GMA News