Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III yesterday filed 10 of his pet bills for the upcoming 18th Congress.
Sotto is the first among the senators to file his pet bills for the new Congress, three weeks ahead of its opening on July 22.
As per advisory from Senate Secretary Myra Marie Villarica, the sequence of filing of bills and resolutions for the incoming 18th Congress “shall be in accordance with the principle of seniority or length of service of each senator.”
In the first round of filing, from July 1 to 4, each senator could file up to 10 bills or resolutions. Each senator could also file up to 10 additional bills or resolutions for the second round of filing from July 8 to 11.
Among the notable bills Sotto filed is Senate Bill 10, which seeks to require employers in the private sector to remunerate the 14th month pay.
Sotto also filed the Anti-False Content Bill, which seeks to prohibit the publication and proliferation of false content on the Internet, provide measures to counteract its effects, and prescribe penalties for such acts.
Sotto re-filed the bill seeking to lower the minimum age of criminal liability from 15- to 12-years-old. He cited viral videos of minors committing crimes.
He also cited a study by the Child Rights International Network which states that other countries have lower minimum age of criminal liability while some federal states in the United States have set none, which “theoretically (allows) a child to be sentenced to criminal penalties at any age.”
He is also pushing for a bill providing medical scholarships in state universities and colleges to qualified students.
The other pet bills Sotto filed are the Anti-Drug Penal Institution bill, Presidential Drug Enforcement Authority bill, Dangerous Drugs Court bill, Prevention of Terrorism bill, Hybrid Election bill, and a bill increasing the penalty for perjury.
In the third round of filing, the senators, on a “first come, first serve” basis, may file any number of bills or resolutions.
Sen. Ramon “Bong’’ Revilla Jr. also filed 10 measures. Other senators who filed bills were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, Francis N. Pangilinan, Panfilo M. Lacson, Pia Cayetano, and Nancy Binay. (Mario Casayuran and PNA)
