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THE
Thirteenth Congress will scramble to pass a slew of
pending proposals, including amendments to the Customs
Brokers Law, when the Senate and the House of
Representatives reconvene for their June 4-8 closing
session.
On top
of the priority list are the cheaper medicine bill being
pushed by Sen. Mar Roxas II and reelected PDP-Laban Rep.
Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati City, and the proposed
amendment to the Customs Broker Act, which would allow
corporations to hire in-house brokers.
The two
bills have been scheduled for marathon deliberations in
bicameral conference committees Monday in the hope that
the final version of these bills could be crafted,
ratified and submitted to Malacañang for signing into
law before the adjournment late this week.
Senate
Bill 2597, coauthored by Sens. Richard Gordon, Panfilo
Lacson, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Roxas and Senate Minority
Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr., amends Republic Act 9280,
otherwise known as the 2004 Customs Brokers Act.
It
deletes the title of RA 9280’s Section 29 about
“Prohibition Against Corporate Practice” and replaces it
with “Admission to Professional Practice.”
Section
29 states that “the practice of customs broker is a
professional service, admission to which shall be
determined upon the basis of individual and personal
qualifications. No firm, company or association may be
registered or licensed as such for the practice of
customs broker profession.”
But the
amending bill added a clarification that nothing in the
law prohibits corporations from having their own
in-house customs brokers, as long as these individuals
are accredited according to law.
It was
pointed out that the present law, as it stands has
triggered disputes over interpretation. The customs
brokers’ association interprets the law as prohibiting
big companies, including multinational integrators like
FedEx, from hiring their own in-house brokers.
The
integrators and cargo-forwarding companies insist that
the law allows them to hire their in-house brokers for
as long as these are accredited by the Professional
Regulation Commission.
An
earlier court case filed against one integrator by the
customs brokers association had triggered worries that
the top brass of such global companies may be subjected
to lawsuits unless the law is clarified.
Also on
the Senate agenda, said Majority Leader Francis
Pangilinan, are bills listed in the "unfinished
business" including fiscal incentives, the new central
bank act, use of government ambulances and the National
Labor Relations Commission.
The
House of Representatives, meanwhile, will give priority
to the approval of a bill making medicines affordable
and two other important measures before the Thirteenth
Congress adjourns on June 6, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.
said on Sunday.
Following a four-month break for the midterm elections,
Congress returns to work on Monday to tackle remaining
important legislation in the last three plenary session
days of the Senate and the House.
Aside
from House Bill 6035, which seeks to lower the cost of
medicines, the House will also give priority to the
approval of the bills on tourism and the amendments to
the charter of the University of the Philippines.
“These
are our priorities, and we’ll try to have them approved
before Thursday,” Majority Leader Prospero Nograles
said.
In
February, the House approved on second reading Committee
Report 2153 on HB 6035, which is intended to lower the
prices of medicines in the country, which de Venecia
called as a major health legislation for the poor.
Both de
Venecia and Nograles expressed confidence that HB 6035
could be approved on third and final reading, and the
Senate and House versions could be rapidly reconciled in
bicameral conference before adjournment.
The
consolidated version would then be submitted to both
chambers for ratification.
Nograles
said consultations on the final version of the measure
continued during the election break.
“The
bill is supported by the minority, so I don’t think
we’ll have a problem having it approved,” he said.
He said
that Senator Roxas, who is pushing the Senate version of
the bill, called him to request for speedy House action
on the measure. Senate-House consultations on the bill
continued even during the election break, and the
bicameral conference committee is seen to quickly adopt
a common version.
During
the two-day session last February, the House elected
members of the House contingent to the conference
committee on HB 5008, which contains the provisions
strengthening the University of the Philippines as the
premier state university (UP Charter). |
