H

o A Sen Com Secre Legislative Public G Bag

m b ator mitte tariat Document ations A ong
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 About
Legislative Process
●​ Rules of
the Senate
Preliminary Procedures​ ●​ History of
Introduction of Bills​ the Senate
Types of Legislation​ ●​ Symbols of
Bill Referrals​ Authority
●​ Legislative
In Committee​ Process
Committee Reports​
Calendaring for Floor Debates​
Conference Committee Action​
Final Legislative Action​
Summary

Preliminary Procedures

The procedures for introducing legislation and seeing it through

committees are similar in both the House of Representatives and the
Senate.

Legislative proposals originate in a number of different ways.

Members of the Senate, of course, develop ideas for legislation.
Technical assistance in research and drafting legislative language is
available at the Senate Legislative Technical Affairs Bureau. Special
interest groups—business, religious, labor, urban and rural poor,
consumers, trade association, and the like—are other fertile sources
of legislation. Constituents, either as individuals or groups, also may
propose legislation. Frequently, a member of the Senate will
introduce such a bill by request, whether or not he supports its
purposes.

It must be noted also that much of the needed legislation of the

country today considered by Congress originates from the executive
branch. Each year after the President of the Philippines outlines his
legislative program in his State-of-the-Nation Address, executive
departments and agencies transmit to the House and the Senate
drafts of proposed legislations to carry out the President’s program.

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Introduction of Bills

No matter where a legislative proposal originates, it can be

introduced only by a member of Congress. In the Senate, a member
may introduce any of several types of bills and resolutions by filing it
with the Office of the Secretary.

There is no limit to the number of bills a member may introduce.

House and Senate bills may have joint sponsorship and carry several
members' names.

Major legislation is often introduced in both houses in the form

of companion (identical) bills, the purpose of which is to speed up
the legislative process by encouraging both chambers to consider
the measure simultaneously. Sponsors of companion bills may also
hope to dramatize the importance or urgency of the issue and show
broad support for the legislation.

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Types of Legislation

The type of measures that Congress may consider and act upon
(in addition to treaties in the Senate) include bills and three kinds of
resolutions. They are:

1. Bills

These are general measures, which if

passed upon, may become laws. A bill is
prefixed with S., followed by a number
assigned the measure based on the order in
which it is introduced. The vast majority of
legislative proposals––recommendations
dealing with the economy, increasing
penalties for certain crimes, regulation on
commerce and trade, etc., are drafted in the
form of bills. They also include budgetary
appropriation of the government and many
others. When passed by both chambers in
identical form and signed by the President or
repassed by Congress over a presidential
veto, they become laws.

2. Joint Resolutions

A joint resolution, like a bill, requires the

approval of both houses and the signature of
the President. It has the force and effect of a
law if approved. There is no real difference
 between a bill and a joint resolution. The
latter generally is used when dealing with a
single item or issue, such as a continuing or
emergency appropriations bill. Joint
resolutions are also used for proposing
amendments to the Constitution.

3. Concurrent Resolutions

A concurrent resolution is usually

designated in the Senate as S. Ct. Res. It is
used for matters affecting the operations of
both houses and must be passed in the
same form by both of them. However, they
are not referred to the President for his
signature, and they do not have the force of
law. Concurrent resolutions are used to fix
the time of adjournment of a Congress and
to express the “sense of Congress” on an
issue.

4. Simple Resolutions

It is usually designated with P. S. Res. A

simple resolution deals with matters entirely
within the prerogative of one house of
Congress, such as adopting or receiving its
own rules. A simple resolution is not
considered by the other chamber and is not
sent to the President for his signature. Like a
concurrent resolution, it has no effect and
force of a law. Simple resolutions are used
occasionally to express the opinion of a
single house on a current issue. Oftentimes,
it is also used to call for a congressional
action on an issue affecting national interest.

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Bill Referrals

Once a measure has been introduced and given a number, it is

read and referred to an appropriate committee. It must be noted
that during the reading of the bill, only the title and the author is
read on the floor. The Senate President is responsible for referring
bills introduced to appropriate committees.

The jurisdictions of the Standing Committees are spelled out in

Rule X, Section 13 of the Rules of the Senate. For example, if a bill
involves matters relating to agriculture, food production and
agri-business, it must be referred to the Committee on Agriculture
and Food.

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In Committee

The standing committees of the Senate, operating as “little

legislatures,” determine the fate of most proposals. There are
committee hearings scheduled to discuss the bills referred.
Committee members and staff frequently are experts in the subjects
under their jurisdiction, and it is at the committee stage that a bill
comes under the sharpest scrutiny. If a measure is to be
substantially revised, the revision usually occurs at the committee
level.

A committee may dispose of a bill in one of several ways: it may

approve, or reject, the legislation with or without amendments;
rewrite the bill entirely; reject it, which essentially kills the bill;
report it favorably or without recommendation, which allows the
chamber to consider the bill at all. It must be noted that under
Section 29, Rule XI of the Rules of the Senate, if the reports
submitted are unfavorable, they shall be transmitted to the archives
of the Senate, unless five Senators shall, in the following session,
move for their inclusion in the Calendar for Ordinary Business, in
which case the President shall so order.

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Committee Reports

A committee report describes the purpose and scope of the bill,

explains any committee amendments, indicates proposed changes in
existing law and such other materials that are relevant. Moreover,
reports are numbered in the order in which they are filed and
printed.

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Calendaring for Floor Debates: Consideration of, and Debates
on Bills

Under Section 45 of Rule XVI of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate
shall have three calendars, to wit:

A “Calendar for Ordinary Business," in which shall be

included the bills reported out by the committees in the
order in which they were received by the Office of the
Secretary; the bills whose consideration has been
agreed upon by the Senate without setting the dates on
which to effect it; and also the bills whose consideration
has been postponed indefinitely;

A “Calendar for Special Orders,” in which the bills and

resolutions shall be arranged successively and
chronologically, according to the order in which they
were assigned for consideration; and

A “Calendar for Third Reading,” in which shall be

included all bills and joint resolutions approved on
second reading.

Thus, a bill which has a committee report can be referred to the

“Calendar for Ordinary Business.” It may again be moved to its
“Special Order of Business” for priority action.

On the other hand, the consideration and debate of bills and

resolutions are spelled out in Rule XXV, Section 71 of the Rules of
the Senate. It provides as follows:

Sec. 71. The Senate shall adopt the following procedure

in the consideration of bills and joint resolutions:

(a) Second reading of the bill.

(b) Sponsorship by the committee chairman,

or by any member designated by the
committee.

(c) If a debate ensues, turns for and against

the bill shall be taken alternately: Provided,
however, That any committee member who
fails to enter his objection or to make of
record his dissenting vote after it shall have
been included in the Order of Business and
 read to the Senate in accordance with the
second paragraph of Section 24 hereof, shall
not be allowed to speak against the bill
during the period of general debate although
he may propose and speak or vote on
amendments thereto.

(d) The sponsor of the bill or author of the

motion shall have the right to close the
debate.

(e) With the debate closed, the consideration

of amendments, if any, shall be in order.

(f) After the period of amendments, the

voting of the bill on Second Reading.

(g) Bills shall be submitted to final vote by

yeas and nays after printed copies thereof in
final form have been distributed to the
Members at least three (3) days prior to
their passage, except when the President of
the Philippines certifies to the necessity of
their immediate enactment to meet a public
calamity or emergency, in which case the
voting on Third Reading may take place
immediately after second reading.

After the bill is approved on Third Reading, it will be submitted

to the House of Representatives for consideration. A bill passed by
the Senate and transmitted to the House usually goes to a
committee, unless a House bill on the same subject has already
been reported out by the appropriate committee and placed on the
calendar.

Under normal procedures, therefore, a bill passed by one

chamber and transmitted to the other is referred to the appropriate
committee, from which it must follow the same route to passage as
a bill originating from that chamber.

Amendments may be offered at both the committee and floor

action stages, and the bill as it emerges from the second chamber
may differ significantly from the version passed by the first. A
frequently used procedure when this occurs is for the chamber that
acts last to bring up the other chamber’s bill and substitute its own
version, then retaining only the latter’s bill number. That numbered
bill, containing the Senate and House version, is then sent to a
conference committee to resolve all differences.

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Conference Committee Action

Calling a Conference

Either chamber can request a conference once both have

considered the same legislation. Generally, the chamber that
approved the legislation first will disagree to the amendments made
by the second body and will make a request that a conference be
convened. Sometimes, however, the second body will ask for a
conference immediately after it has passed the legislation, assuming
that the other chamber will not accept its amendments.

Selection of Conferees

Under the Rules of the Senate (Rule XII, Section 34), the Senate
President shall designate the members of the Senate panel in the
conference committee with the approval of the Senate. The Senate
delegation to a conference can range in size from three to a larger
number, depending on the length and complexity of the legislation
involved.

Authority of Conferees

The authority given to the Senate conferees theoretically is

limited to matters in disagreement between the two chambers. They
are not authorized to delete provisions or language agreed to by
both the House and the Senate as to draft entirely new provisions.

In practice, however, the conferees have wide latitude, except

where the matters in disagreement are very specific. Moreover,
conferees attempt to reconcile their differences, but generally they
try to grant concession only insofar as they remain confident that
the chamber they represent will accept the compromise.

The Conference Report

When the conferees have reached agreement on a bill, the

conference committee staff writes a conference report indicating
changes made in the bill and explaining each side’s actions.
 Once a conference committee completes its works, it can now be
submitted to the floor for its approval. Debate on conference reports
is highly privileged and can interrupt most other business.

Approval of the conference report by both houses, along with

any amendments on disagreement, constitutes final approval of the
bill.

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Final Legislative Action

After both houses have given final approval to a bill, a final copy
of the bill, known as the “enrolled bill,” shall be printed, and certified
as correct by the Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General
of the House of Representatives. After which, it will be signed by the
Speaker of the House and the Senate President.

A bill may become a law, even without the President’s signature,

if the President does not sign a bill within 30 days from receipt in his
office. A bill may also become a law without the President’s
signature if Congress overrides a presidential veto by two-thirds
vote.

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Summary

The following is a summary of how a bill becomes a law:

Filing/Calendaring for First Reading

A bill is filed in the Office of the Secretary where it is

given a corresponding number and calendared for First
Reading.

First Reading

Its title, bill number, and author’s name are read on

the floor, after which it is referred to the proper
committee.

Committee Hearings/Report

Committee conducts hearings and consultation

meetings. It then either approves the proposed bill
without an amendment, approves it with changes, or
recommends substitution or consolidation with similar
bills filed.

Calendaring for Second Reading

The Committee Report with its approved bill version

is submitted to the Committee on Rules for calendaring
for Second Reading.

Second Reading

Bill author delivers sponsorship speech on the floor.

Senators engage in debate, interpellation, turno en
contra, and rebuttal to highlight the pros and cons of the
bill. A period of amendments incorporates necessary
changes in the bill proposed by the committee or
introduced by the Senators themselves on the floor.

Voting on Second Reading

Senators vote on the second reading version of the

bill. If approved, the bill is calendared for third reading.

Voting on Third Reading

Printed copies of the bill’s final version are

distributed to the Senators. This time, only the title of
the bill is read on the floor. Nominal voting is held. If
passed, the approved Senate bill is referred to the
House of Representatives for concurrence.

At the House of Representatives

The Lower Chamber follows the same procedures

(First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading).

Back to the Senate

If the House-approved version is compatible with

that of the Senate’s, the final version’s enrolled form is
printed. If there are certain differences, a Bicameral
Conference Committee is called to reconcile conflicting
provisions of both versions of the Senate and of the
House of Representatives. Conference committee
submits report on the reconciled version of the bill, duly
 approved by both chambers. The Senate prints the
reconciled version in its enrolled form.

Submission to Malacañang

Final enrolled form is submitted to Malacañang. The

President either signs it into law, or vetoes and sends it
back to the Senate with veto message.

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Source: Pastrana and Raval, Essentials and Dynamics of the Senate, 2001;​
Update of the Legislative Group 2001

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