THE SENATE inquiry into the irregularities that surrounded the $329-million contract for a national broadband network (NBN), which has received very wide media coverage, has unfortunately created public impression that the upper chamber of Congress has been neglecting its other mandate—that of lawmaking.

It is an unfortunate misimpression. In reality, the Senate in this 14th Congress has been a very productive lawmaking body. In my first year as Senate President, we passed four times the average number of bills. As of February 2008, we have passed 22 measures.

During the recent meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, or Ledac, we agreed to prioritize nine bills. To date, we have passed eight of them.

The measures that we have passed are all of national application, addressing various issues which impact on the social and economic conditions of our kababayan. Let me cite some of them:

• Senate Bill (SB) 1646—Promoting Entrepreneurship by Strengthening the Development and Assistance Programs to Micro, Small and Medium-Scale Enterprises
• SB 1658—Providing for Quality Affordable Medicines
• SB 1699—Promoting Environmental Awareness Through Environmental Education
• House Bill 2454—General Appropriations Act
• SB 1648—Extending the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund
• SB 1882—Establishing a Provident Personal Savings Plan, Known as the Personal Equity and Retirement Account
• SB 1881—Establishing the Credit Information System

Our performance in the Senate contradicts any statement that we are spending too much time and taxpayers’ money on investigations. On the contrary, we have been very effective in multitasking. We have not emphasized legislative inquiry at the expense of lawmaking. We are fulfilling our dual mandate of lawmaking and fiscalizing, and the Senate will remain independent in performing its mandate. We owe that much to the people.

The people may ask: How does the Senate legislate and investigate at the same time? This is understandable because hearings on controversial subjects like the ZTE-NBN deal naturally attract more press coverage than deliberations on bills, which could be boring to watch on television.

Actually, there is no conflict in our schedules. Senate sessions are conducted from Monday to Wednesday, while hearings are held from Thursday to Friday. When hearings are conducted during session days, we do it in the morning. Our regular sessions begin at 3 p.m.

That is effective time management, one of the valuable lessons I learned in business. For students of business courses, the Senate may be a good place to watch time management at play.

Let me also respond to criticisms that Senate inquiries are just a waste of time; that nothing concrete is accomplished in terms of prosecuting those who are allegedly involved in corruption, for instance.

We have also been criticized of being publicity-hungry, and that we use these public hearings to land in the front pages of newspapers or on prime-time television and radio.

Quite the contrary, our investigations, including the still unfinished ZTE-NBN inquiry, have had positive results. Since we started looking into the alleged irregularities surrounding the project, the contract has been cancelled.

Recently, the Ombudsman decided to conduct its own investigation and has invited people whose names cropped up during Senate hearings. Only last week, Malacañang suspended the implementation of 11 multibillion-peso projects to allow a review of the contracts for these projects.

So, Senate hearings are not a waste of time and taxpayers’ money. On the contrary, if the hearings established that contracts are overpriced and disadvantageous to the government, then the hearings will result in savings because they will lead to more realistic contract prices.

This means that our system of check and balance is working. Imagine what would happen if there is no Senate in the Legislative branch to watch the Executive branch in government, or vice versa?

There is another positive development coming out of the Senate investigations. More and more people—religious groups, businessmen, students and ordinary citizens—are getting involved and participate in efforts to hold the government accountable. After all, we’re supposed to have a government for the people, by the people and of the people.

I am confident that when Filipinos finally shed off indifference—the mentality that once officials are elected, they’re left to do what they want—then we will have a government that is truly accountable.

That is not a waste of time.

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