Resolution Amending Rule IV, Section 6 and Rule X, Sections 13, 18 and 20 of the Rules of the Senate

August 15, 2022

SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 8

RESOLUTION AMENDING RULE IV, SECTION 6 AND RULE X, SECTIONS 13, 18 AND 20 OF THE RULES OF THE SENATE

Resolved by the Senate, To amend, as it hereby amends, Rule IV, Section 6 and Rule X, Sections 13, 18 and 20 of the Rules of the Senate to read as follows:

"RULE IV

THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, HIS

xxx xxx xxx

SEC. 6. In case of the temporary absence of the President or the President Pro Tempore, the Majority Leader or in his absence, any of the two Deputy Majority Leaders, or any member designated by the President shall discharge the powers and duties of the President.

xxx xxx xxx

RULE X

THE COMMITTEES

SEC. 13. After the organization of the Senate in the manner provided in Rule IX, the following permanent committees shall be formed, with the duties, powers and general jurisdiction specified hereunder:

(1) Committee on Rules. — Nine (9) members. All matters affecting the Rules of the Senate; the calendar as well as parliamentary rules and the order and manner of transacting business and the creation of committees. The Chairperson of the Committee shall be the Majority Leader of the Senate and the two Vice Chairpersons shall be the Deputy Majority Leaders.

(2) Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations. — x x x

(3) Accounts. — Thirteen (13) members. All matters relating to the auditing and adjustment of all accounts chargeable against the funds for the expenses and activities of the Senate.

(4) Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform. — Seventeen (17) members. All matters relating to agriculture, food production and agri-business, including agricultural experimental stations, agricultural economics and research; soil survey and conservation; agricultural education; technical extension services; animal husbandry; livestock quarantine; agricultural support price; and fisheries and aquatic resources; and all matters relating to agrarian reform, landed estates, and implementation of the agrarian land reform provisions of the Constitution.

(5) Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to banks, financial institutions, government and private currencies, capital markets, mutual funds, securitization, coinage and circulation of money.

(6) Basic Education. — Fifteen (15) members. All matters directly and principally relating to early childhood care and education, pre-school, kindergarten, elementary and secondary education, science high schools except the Philippine Science High School System, sports high schools, teachers and students welfare, teacher education and competency, non-formal, informal, indigenous learning systems, special needs education and community adult education; inclusive education, scholarships, grants, subsidies and incentives to deserving students; the national language; and the establishment and maintenance of libraries.

(7) Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation. — Nine (9) members. All matters relating to the Civil Service and the status of officers and employees of the government including their appointment, discipline, retirement; their compensation privileges, benefits and incentives; implementation of the constitutional provisions on the rights of government workers to form and join labor organizations; public sector labor-management relations and collective negotiation agreements; the regulation of and admission to and the practice of the professions; and reorganization of the government or any of its branches or instrumentalities; all human resource development programs pertaining to the Government; and all other matters relating to the bureaucracy.

(8) Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes. — Thirteen (13) members. All matters proposing amendments to the Constitution of the Philippines and the revision of the existing codes.

(9) Cooperatives. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to cooperatives, both urban and rural based, including but not limited to farm credit and farm security, cooperative movements, marketing and consumers' organizations; and the implementation of the Cooperative Code of the Philippines.

(10) Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs. — Nine (9) members. All matters relating to cultural communities and Muslim affairs inclusive of the preservation, development of culture, traditions, institutions, and well-being of indigenous peoples and Muslim Filipinos.

(11) Culture and the Arts. — Nine (9) members. All matters relating to the establishment and maintenance of museums, shrines, monuments, and other historical sites and edifices; initiatives in fostering artistic practices and innovations in a range of platforms for presentation; support for scholarship, curatorship and dissemination of knowledge in arts and culture; training programs and cultural and artistic programs of international institutions and organizations operating in the Philippines, such as the UNESCO; and the preservation, enrichment and evolution of Filipino arts and culture, built and intangible, and in both traditional and contemporary forms.

(12) Economic Affairs. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to economic planning and programming; the planning of domestic and foreign public indebtedness; general economic development; and coordination, regulation and diversification of industry and investments.

(13) Electoral Reforms and People's Participation. — Thirteen (13) members. All matters pertaining to election laws and the implementation of the constitutional provisions on initiative and referendum on legislative acts; recall of elective officials; the role and rights of people's organizations; and sectoral or party-list representation.

(14) Energy. — x x x

(15) Environment and Natural Resources and Climate Change. — x x x

(16) Ethics and Privileges. — x x x

(17) Finance. — x x x

(18) Foreign Relations. — Seventeen (17) members. All matters relating to the relations of the Philippines with other nations generally; diplomatic and consular services; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations; the United Nations Organization and its agencies; multi-lateral organizations; all international agreements, obligations and contracts; and overseas Filipinos.

(19) Games and Amusement. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to games and amusement, such as, but not limited to, casinos, lotteries, jai-alai and horse-racing.

(20) Government Corporations and Public Enterprises. — Eleven (11) members. All questions affecting government corporations, including all amendments to their charters; the interests of the government in the different industrial and commercial enterprises; privatization.

(21) Health and Demography. — Thirteen (13) members. All matters relating to public health in general, medical, hospital and quarantine services; population issues, concerns, policies and programs affecting individuals and their families, their effects on national, social and economic conditions.

(22) Higher, Technical and Vocational Education. — x x x

(23) Justice and Human Rights. — x x x

(24) Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development. — Fifteen (15) members. All matters relating to labor, employment and human resource development; maintenance of industrial peace; promotion of employer-employee cooperation; labor education, standards and statistics; foreign workers in the Philippines; promotion and development of workers' organizations; and promotion and development of employment-intensive technology.

(25) Local Government. — Fifteen (15) members. All matters relating to autonomous regions, provinces, cities, special metropolitan political subdivisions, municipalities and barangays.

(26) Migrant Workers. — Fifteen (15) members. All matters relating to the rights, safety, welfare, well-being, interest, and protection of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and seafarers and their families.

(27) National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation. — Twenty (20) members. All matters relating to national defense and external and internal threats to national security, peace, internal armed conflict resolution, political negotiation, cessation of hostilities, amnesty, rebel returnees, integration and development, national unification and reconciliation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines; pension plans and fringe benefits of war veterans and military retirees; citizens army selective service; forts; arsenals; military camps and reservations; coast, geodetic and meteorological surveys; civil defense; and military research and development.

(28) Public Information and Mass Media. — Thirteen (13) members. All matters relating to public information, mass communication and broadcast services; the implementation of the provisions of the Constitution regarding ownership and management of mass media and the advertising industry; the development and promotion of information technology; and all matters relating to the artistic standards and quality of the motion picture and television industry.

(29) Public Order and Dangerous Drugs. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to peace and order; the Philippine National Police; the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology; the Bureau of Fire Protection; private security agencies; the use, sale, acquisition, possession, cultivation, manufacture and distribution of prohibited and regulated drugs and other similar substances as provided for under pertinent laws, and the prosecution of offenders, rehabilitation of drug users and dependents, including the formulation of drug-related policies.

(30) Public Services. — x x x

(31) Public Works. — x x x

(32) Science and Technology. — x x x

(33) Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development. — Nine (9) members. All matters relating to rural development and welfare, and the Constitution on Social Justice.

(34) Sports. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to the promotion of physical fitness, professional and amateur sports development.

(35) Sustainable Development Goals, Innovation and Futures Thinking. — Nine (9) members. All matters relating to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Assessment of the country's performance in attaining said development goals through policies, strategies, and actions for the development of desirable futures by using a multi-disciplinary approach in illuminating possibilities, outlining policy choices, and assessing alternatives.

(36) Tourism. — Fifteen (15) members. All matters relating to tourism and the tourist industry.

(37) Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to domestic and foreign trade and private corporations; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); social enterprises; the promotion of entrepreneurship and the regulation of entrepreneurial practice; patents, copyrights, trade names and trademarks; standards, weights, measures and designs; quality control, control and stabilization of prices of commodities; consumer protection; handicrafts and cottage industries and marketing of commodities.

(38) Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement. — x x x

(39) Ways and Means. — x x x

(40) Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality. — Eleven (11) members. All matters relating to women, the welfare and protection of children, family relations, and equality before the law of women and men.

(41) Youth. — Nine (9) members. All matters related to the youth and its vital role in nation-building, promotion and protection of their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being, inculcation of patriotism, nationalism and their involvement in public and civic affairs.

xxx xxx xxx

SEC. 18. The membership of the permanent committees, including their respective Chairpersons, shall be chosen by the Senate. The Chairperson of each committee may designate the Vice Chairperson or such Vice Chairpersons of the committee and create such subcommittees as may be deemed necessary.

xxx xxx xxx

SEC. 20. The President Pro Tempore and both the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate are ex officio members of all the permanent committees. The Deputy Majority Leaders and Deputy Minority Leader shall be members of all permanent committees."

Adopted,

(SGD.) JUAN MIGUEL F. ZUBIRIPresident of the Senate

This Resolution was adopted by the Senate on August 15, 2022.

(SGD.) RENATO N. BANTUG, JR.Secretary of the Senate