Bill creating Dep’t on Disaster Resilience unlikely to be passed in 18th Congress — Sotto

The bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) is unlikely to be approved this 18th Congress, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Tuesday.

“Mabigat pa. Mabigat ang interpellation, baka hindi na umabot ‘yun, baka next Congress na nila pi-pick up ‘yun,” Sotto said in a virtual interview with reporters.

(The interpellations are still intense on this matter. It is unlikely to be passed in this Congress. Maybe it could be picked up in the next Congress.)

The House of Representatives has already passed its version of the bill in 2020.

However, the bills filed in the Senate remain pending at the committee level as some senators opposed the proposal to establish the department, citing impracticability and possible lack of funding.

On the other hand, Sotto expressed confidence the Senate could pass and ratify other measures which are at the bicameral conference level.

Apart from these, the Senate chief said the three treaties which are pending at the plenary could be concurred in by the Senate before they go on break in February.

“There are three treaties na (which are still) pending. It was sponsored by Sen. [Aquilino Pimentel III] yesterday. We could not approve it on the same day anyway, so we will have two weeks to do that. But I think by Monday we will able to ratify these treaties. And if third reading is necessary, we have enough time to do that,” he said.

The treaties that were sponsored are the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and the Arms Trade Treaty.

He added that the Senate is pushing for the immediate passage of the bill for the Marawi compensation as well as the Maritime Baselines bill.

‘Facility for heinous criminals’

In the same interview, Sotto reiterated the need for a separate facility for heinous criminals following the escape of four inmates from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“It bolsters what I have been saying all along….Kailangan talaga ihiwalay natin yung mga heinous criminals from the community of [persons deprived of liberty],” he said.

(We need to make a separate facility for heinous criminals from the community of PDLs.)

The House of Representatives and the Senate both passed the bill creating a separate facility for high-level criminals.

Sotto said he would seek updates on the bicameral conference committee meeting on the bill so it could be ratified and sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for his approval.

In a separate statement, detained Senator Leila de Lima urged the government to investigate the reported escape of inmates from the national penitentiary.

"Authorities must look at all angles that led to the escape of PDLs, and eventually the demise of two of them. May kapabayaan ba o sabwatan? Bakit nagkaroon sila ng armas, na naglagay din ng malubhang peligro sa publiko?” she asked.

De Lima, who served as a former justice secretary, said these incidents should serve as another “wake-up call” for the government to tighten security and make reforms in the country’s correctional systems.

“I cannot anymore count the times that I called on the government to finally address the problems that have long been plaguing the country’s prison system, which includes severe congestion – the root cause of the pressing problems in Philippine penitentiary,” she said.

She then urged the Senate to act on Senate bill 180 and 181 which she filed to seek comprehensive reforms in the Philippine penitentiary system.

SB No. 180 seeks to institutionalize prison reform and restorative justice in the country’s correctional system to ensure the effective rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates while according full respect of their rights.

Meanwhile, SB No. 181 seeks to unify corrections and management system by centralizing the management of all prisons and jails under a single government authority to be called National Commission on Corrections and Jail Management (NCCJM).

The Senate has suspended its plenary sessions until January 24 due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the upper chamber.

The Senate and the House of Representatives are scheduled to adjourn sessions again on February 4 to give way for the campaign period for the 2022 national and local elections. — RSJ, GMA News