A Report to the Filipino People

First 100 Days: Captive, But Not Inactive
by Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV
(Please visit http://trillanes.magdalo.net/index.php )

Introduction

Senator Antonio F. Trillanes, 36, was elected to the Senate of the Philippines in the May 14 2004 national election with over 11 million votes. His victory, described by many as phenomenal because he had no logistics and a traditional political machinery to back him up plus the fact that he was incarcerated by the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration throughout the campaign, is seen as a vindication of his uncompromising stand against graft and corruption and for clean government.

After taking his oath as senator, however, the courts twice rebuffed his bid to participate in Senate sessions, although his colleagues in the Upper House were almost unanimous in expressing their sense that Senator Trillanes be allowed to participate in the sessions and other Senate functions. The Filipino people also continue to express their desire to see him work in the Senate.

He continues to languish in jail, but his imprisonment has not deterred him from performing his duties as a nationally elected legislator, neither it has dimmed nor diminished his principled opposition to the illegal and graft and corruption-ridden regime of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It has not even diluted his enthusiasm to serve.

In fact, even if physically restrained by jail from attending Senate sessions and other official functions, he continues to do what he can to serve his mandate, saying he owes it to the Filipino people to perform his duties and responsibilities as a senator.

This report, First 100 Days: Captive, But Not Inactive, is intended to inform his countrymen of his accomplishments during his first 100 days in office while in prison at the Marine Brig inside Fort Bonifacio.

Legislative Activities

Immediately after assuming office as an elected senator, Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes filed on July 2, 2007, the first working day of the 14th Congress, his first ten (10) bills whose nature pretty much cover the breadth of his campaign platform he advocated during the campaign.

He proposed a law calling for enhancing the welfare of soldiers, workers, teachers, and veterans; a proposal lowering the cost of medicines; and a bill extending to broadcast and internet publications, including news agencies, the coverage of the law exempting publishers, editors and reporters from revealing their source of news obtained in confidence.

He also filed a bill fixing the terms of office of the chief of staff and commanders of the major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, saying giving these officials a fixed term or tenure will provide for continuity and stability in the AFP and shield it from the perils of partisan politics.

Four of Trillanes’s first 10 bills call for increased wages and benefits, namely, an increase in the combat duty pay and subsistence allowance of AFP officers and enlisted personnel; a raise of the salary grade of public school teachers; an increase in the daily wage of private sector workers; and an increase in the monthly pension of Filipino World War veterans and provision of medical assistance to them.

The bills are as follows:

1. S. Bill No. 751—An Act Increasing the Combat Duty Pay of All Officers and Enlisted Personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from Two Hundred Forty Pesos Per Month to Twenty Five Percent of their Base Pay and Providing Funds Therefor;
2. S. Bill No. 752—An Act Increasing the Subsistence Allowance of All Officers and Enlisted Personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from Sixty Pesos to One Hundred and Fifty Pesos and Providing Funds Therefor;
3. S. Bill No. 753—An Act Providing for a P125.00 Daily Across-the-Board Increase in the Salary Rates of Employees and Workers in the Private Sector and for Other Related Purposes;
4. S. Bill No. 754—An Act Amending Certain Sections of Republic Act No. 6948 Otherwise Known as “An Act Standardizing and Upgrading the Benefits for Military Veterans and their Dependents”;
5. S. Bill No. 755—An Act Prescribing Special Measures to Lower the Price of Medicines and Other Related Purposes;
6. S. Bill No. 756—An Act Increasing the Minimum Salary Grade of Public School Teachers from Salary Grade 10 to 20 and Providing Funds Therefor;
7. S. Bill No. 757—An Act Amending Republic Act No. 53, As Amended, Otherwise Known as “An Act to Exempt the Publisher, Editor, or Reporter of Any Publication from Revealing the Source of Published News or Information from Revealing the Source of Published News or Information Obtained in Confidence” by Including Within Its Coverage Journalists from Broadcast, News Agencies, and Internet Publications;
8. S. Bill No. 758—An Act Prescribing Fixed Terms for the Chief of Staff and Major Service Commanders of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and for Other Purposes;
9. S. Bill No. 759—An Act Requiring Mandatory Computer Education in All Public and Private High Schools and for Other Related Purposes; and
10. S. Bill No. 760—An Act Defining as a Crime the Act of Driving any Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcoholic Beverages and/or Prohibited Drugs and Providing Graduated Penalties Therefor.

Except for S. Bill No. 755, which has been incorporated with similar bills lowering the cost of medicines that had been approved on second reading on the first week of October, all of these bills have been referred to the appropriate committees for deliberation.

Priority Bills Filed

Special Fund on Poverty Alleviation

Senator Trillanes authored S. Bill 1425, filed on August 2, 2007, creating a Special Poverty Alleviation Fund, which will primarily finance school and community-based supplemental feeding programs and related poverty-alleviation efforts in the poorest of the poor communities using the minimum basic needs (MBN) approach. This bill is now being deliberated by the Senate Committees on Social Justice; Welfare and Rural Development; Education, Arts and Culture; and Finance.

Economic Bills

In a bold legislative move, Sen. Trillanes authored two major bills that very few legislators before him dared to consider due to their perceived serious political sensitiveness.

One of these, S. Bill No. 1448, entitled, An Act Repealing Republic Act No. 9337, otherwise known as the Expanded Value Added Tax, calls for the repeal of the controversial law, which Trillanes says is another “calvary” of the Filipino people.

The other bill, S. 1591, filed on September 17, is a proposal amending Presidential Decree No. 1177, the Automatic Appropriations Law, which the senator says is a relic of the Marcos era that has brought nothing but misery to the country. In this bill, the senator from Caloocan calls for the non-prioritization of debt servicing in budget allocation. Instead, these “freed” funds should be allocated to augment the Internal Revenue Allotments of local government units.

Civil Service and Government Reorganization

Sen. Trillanes was elected by his colleagues as chairman of the Senate Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, the committee that deals on all matters relative to the bureaucracy and government reform.

As committee chairman, he has vowed to make the committee a strong pillar of his advocacy to initiate government reforms, making it relevant to the needs of the times and responsive to the yearning of the people for clean and efficient government.

On September 20, 2007, Trillanes presided over the unprecedented organizational meeting of his committee inside his jail cell in Fort Bonifacio. Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano, a member of the committee and chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, attended the organizational meeting. Representatives of Senators Loren Legarda and Jinggoy Estrada were also present, as well as the Senate committee secretariat and the senator’s staff. During the meeting, the committee adopted its internal rules of procedures.

On September 27, Trillanes, as chairman of the committee, called for a public hearing, again, inside his jail cell, to discuss the bills referred to his committee, specifically, S. Nos. 253 and 1409, proposing amendments to R. A. No. 9280, otherwise known as the Custom Broker Act of 2004.

S. No. 253 is authored by Senator Mar Roxas, while S. No. 1409 is being proposed by Sen. Richard Gordon. The Roxas measure does away with the prohibition in the law that “no firm, company, or association may be registered or licensed as such for the purpose of customs service broker profession” and instead states that “the practice of customs broker is a professional service, admission to which shall be determined upon the basis of individual and personal qualification.” On the other hand, the Gordon amendment re-defines the scope of the practice of customs brokerage.

Esperon harasses Trillanes

Unfortunately, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, through his officers, and without any reason, banned the resource persons, invited guests, and the Senate committee secretariat and the senator’s staff from entering the Marine Brig where Trillanes is detained, prompting the cancellation of the public hearing.

Also banned from entering the Marine Brig were Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former AFP Chief of Staff and Commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps, and Civil Service Commission chair Karina David. Trillanes had invited Chairperson David to discuss the government’s reorganization bill that seeks to rationalize and increase the pay scale of all government employees, including the police and members of the AFP.

Senator Trillanes did not take the banning sitting down. On October 1, he filed a filed a formal complaint with Senate president Manuel Villar, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Floor Leader Francis Pangilinan and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. against Esperon, Philippine Navy flag officer-in-command Vice Admiral Rogelio Calunsag, Philippine Marines commandant Major General Benjamin Dolorfino, and Marine barracks commanding officer Lt. Col. Luciardo Obena Jr. for their arbitrary and whimsical act of preventing members of the Senate secretariat, the senator’s staff, and resource persons from attending a scheduled public hearing of Trillanes’s committee.

“Under the circumstances, it is very clear that the unilateral action of Esperon and his officials of preventing the members of the committee secretariat, as well as members of my staff and invited guests and resource persons of the committee from attending a scheduled official public hearing of the Senate, and the banning of my staff and visitors from seeing me were acts of political harassment and discrimination, deliberately imposed to prevent me from performing my duties and responsibilities as a senator,” Trillanes said in his complaint.

“The act of Esperon and his officers named in the complaint clearly affects and infringes upon my rights and privileges as a member of the Senate,” he added.

Trillanes’s complaint was referred to the Senate Committee on Rulesfor appropriate action.

Other Bills

Senator Trillanes has also filed other equally important bills that he believes will contribute to the well-being of the nation. These bills are as follows:

1. S. Bill No. 1402—An Act To Promote Donations in Good Faith of Medicines, Food Products or Supplies by Establishments and Other Entities, Including Individuals, By Exempting Them from Any Form of Liability Arising Therefrom, or the “Good Samaritan Act”;
2. S. Bill No. 1419—An Act Transferring the Philippine Coast Guard to the Department of Transportation and Communications as a Separate and Distinct Armed Uniform Commissioned Service, Further Amending Republic Act no. 7153, As Amended, and For Other Purposes;
3. S. Bill No. 1467—An Act Defining the Archipelagic Baselines of the Philippine Archipelago, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 3046, As Amended by Republic Act No. 5446;
4. S. Bill No. 1490—An Act Providing For Additional Insurance Coverage and Benefits for All Members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines who are Killed, Wounded, or Injured in the Line of Duty, Providing Funds for the Payment of the Premiums and for Other Purposes;
5. S. Bill No. 1593—An Act Including Government Officials and Employees in the Exceptions from the Prohibition Against Disclosure of or Inquiry Into Deposits with Any Banking Institutions, Amending for this Purpose Certain Provisions of R. A. 1405, Otherwise Known as the Secrecy of Bank Deposits Law, and For Other Purposes; and
6. S. Bill No. 1656—An Act Regulating the Practice of Real Estate Service in the Philippines, Creating for the Purpose a Professional Regulatory Board of Real Estate Service, Appropriating Funds Therefor, and For Other Purposes.

Resolutions

As a neophyte senator, Sen. Trillanes has filed a resolution that has been unanimously adopted by the Senate. This is P. S. Resolution No. 4, A Resolution Honoring the Fourteen (14) Marines who Perished in the the Line of Duty in Albarka, Basilan on July 10, 2007; Condemning in the Strongest Terms Possible the Barbaric Act of Beheading and/Or Mutilating the Remains of Ten (10) of Them; and Urging the Philippine Government and the Leadership of the MILF to Identify and Punish the Perpetrators”.

This resolution is now P. S. Resolution No. 5, which Senators Aquilino Pimentel, Panfilo Lacson, Jamby Madrigal, Loren Legarda, Benigno Aquino, jr., Pia cayetano, Manuel Villar, and Francis Pangilinan have signed as co-authors.

On August 13, Sen. Trillanes drew flak from administration senators for filing a resolution that demonstrates his independence of mind and his being a no nonsense crusader against malgovernance. P. S. Resolution No. 72, A Resolution Directing the Committee on National Defense and Security to Inquire and Investigate, In Aid of Legislation, the Alleged Direct Involvement of Ranking Government Officials in the Recent Ambush and Mutilation by Extremist Groups of Fourteen Soldiers Belonging to the Philippine Marine Corps with the End in View of Determining the Culpability and Liability of Said Officials as well as to Determine the True National Policy with Regards the Security Situation in Mindanao.

Trillanes filed the resolution after reports from Mindanao filtered into the media that the Marines who were ambushed in Albarka, Basilan were allegedly deliberately led to their horrible fate by, among other reasons, the prior knowledge of higher officials of the presence of the enemy in the area. Trillanes’s resolution was also prompted by his receipt of confidential information of such prior knowledge and direct involvement. The resolution put the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the focus of public scrutiny. The Senate Committees on National Defense and Security and Public Order and Illegal Drugs, have yet to schedule a public hearing on P. S. Resolution No. 72.

On August 22, Trillanes filed P. S. Resolution No. 91, co-authored by Sen. Madrigal, inquiring on the status of the peace agreements between the government and the MILF and the MNLF in view of the escalating conflict in Mindanao. The resolution has been referred to the Committees on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation and National Defense and Security.

He has also authored P. S. Resolution No. 137, a resolution creating the Committee on Maritime Affairs.

Demonstrating his concern for the officers and men of the AFP, Trillanes filed Senate Joint Resolution No. 2, A Joint Resolution Increasing the Subsistence Allowance of All Officers and Enlisted Personnel of the AFP from Ninety Pesos (P90.00) to One Hundred and Fifty Pesos (P150.00) Per Day. In the House, a counterpart joint resolution was authored by Cong. Ruffy Biazon.

Administration

During his first 100 days in office, Sen. Trillanes has organized a support staff in the Senate which assists him in the performance of his duties and responsibilities as senator of the Republic. His staff may be relatively fresh faces in legislative work but they serve with the same zeal and enthusiasm as the senator and show a lot of promise in accomplishing the hard work ahead.

Constituency Relations

Like most of the other senators’ offices, Sen. Trillanes’s office received a lot of visitors and well-wishers during the period, many of them constituents and local officials coming from the provinces who inquire as to the Senator’s situation. Many more come to ask for all kinds of assistance.

Sen. Trillanes has organized a unit under his chief of staff to entertain the visitors and respond to their varied requests.

Those who cannot come and visit write the senator. The office has received quite a volume of constituency communications and these have been dutifully acted on and responded to.

Advocacies

From the beginning since his assumption as senator, Sen. Trillanes has impressed upon his staff that his new status as legislator imbue him with a higher sense of duty to country and to the Filipino people. Thus, he emphasized that during his tenure, he will concentrate on his legislative duties and quietly work and aim to accomplish his advocacies of fighting all forms of graft and corruption in government. He said he owes it to the Filipino people who believed in his principles to return their trust, confidence, and support with honest to goodness public service.

He disdains speaking out just to get in the news, and is very selective in his public pronouncements. He, however, say that he fears not speaking his mind out on issues that make people aware and informed of the causes and advocacies he espouses.

Despite his incarceration, he retains his utmost belief that eventually Filipinos will overcome all tribulations and realize our collective vision of lasting Peace and Prosperity for our Country.