Senate President Vicente Sotto III and six other senators posted a perfect attendance during the third regular session of the 17th Congress.
Aside from Sotto, other senators who were recorded having attended all of the 61 plenary sessions were Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, minority leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, Joel Villanueva and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Records from the Senate Journal Service show that plenary sessions were held from July 23, 2018 to June 4, 2019. Congress went on sine die adjournment last June 4.
Only Sotto and Lacson managed to keep a perfect attendance all throughout the 17th Congress, accomplishing the same record during the first and second regular sessions in 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Meanwhile, Pimentel and Zubiri scored a perfect attendance during the second regular session, which spanned from July 24, 2017 to May 30, 2018.
Also based on the record, Sotto, Honasan, Lacson and Zubiri achieved a clean attendance with no records of coming in after the roll call, calling in sick or being on official missions in the entire third regular session.
Villanueva, who is just on his third year as senator had two instances where he arrived after the roll call.
Senate records also show that Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay was able to attend 60 session days. She skipped one session day for an official mission abroad.
Meanwhile, senators Sherwin Gatchalian, Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and Cynthia Villar completed 58 session days while Senators Risa Hontiveros and Antonio Trillanes IV showed up 57 times.
Other lawmakers who fared better in attendance were Senators Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Grace Poe and Loren
Legarda who were present for 56 session days. Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto and Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero both attended 55 plenary sessions.
Senators Richard Gordon and Paolo “Bam” Aquino IV were present in 54 and 50 sessions, respectively.
Records also showed that Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao kept his promise to prioritize his job in the Senate, showing up 49 times for work.
For his part, Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan had a record attendance of 47; he posted 12 official missions and was absent only twice.
Sen. Leila de Lima recorded zero attendance due to her incarceration at the Philippine National Police (PNP) detention cell. De Lima is still facing drug charges. (Vanne Terrazola)