• Source: 18th Congress of the Philippines

The 18th Congress of the Philippines (Filipino: Ikalabingwalong Kongreso ng Pilipinas), composed of the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives, met from July 22, 2019, until June 1, 2022, during the last three years of Rodrigo Duterte's presidency. The convening of the 18th Congress followed the 2019 general elections, which replaced half of the Senate membership and the entire membership of the House of Representatives.




Leadership






= Senate

=
President: Tito Sotto (NPC)
President pro tempore: Ralph Recto (Nacionalista)
Majority Floor Leader: Migz Zubiri (Independent)
Minority Floor Leader: Franklin Drilon (Liberal)




= House of Representatives

=
Speaker:
Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig–Pateros, Nacionalista), until October 13, 2020
Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque, PDP–Laban), from October 13, 2020
Deputy Speakers:
Paolo Duterte (Davao City–1st, HNP), until October 13, 2020
Ferdinand Hernandez (South Cotabato–2nd, PDP–Laban)
Evelina Escudero (Sorsogon–1st, NPC)
Loren Legarda (Antique, NPC)
Conrado Estrella III (Abono)
Prospero Pichay Jr. (Surigao del Sur–1st, Lakas)
Roberto Puno (Antipolo–1st, NUP)
Eddie Villanueva (CIBAC)
Aurelio Gonzales Jr. (Pampanga–3rd, PDP–Laban), until December 7, 2020
Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Sur–2nd, PDP–Laban), until December 7, 2020
Luis Raymund Villafuerte (Camarines Sur–2nd, Nacionalista), until October 14, 2020
Raneo Abu (Batangas–2nd, Nacionalista), until November 18, 2020
Neptali Gonzales II (Mandaluyong, PDP–Laban)
Danilo Fernandez (Laguna–1st, PDP–Laban), until November 18, 2020
Rose Marie Arenas (Pangasinan–3rd, PDP–Laban), from July 29, 2019
Rodante Marcoleta (SAGIP), from July 29, 2019
Henry Oaminal (Misamis Occidental–2nd, Nacionalista), from July 29, 2019
Pablo John Garcia (Cebu–3rd, NUP), from July 29, 2019
Vilma Santos (Batangas–6th, Nacionalista), from August 13, 2019
Deogracias Victor Savellano (Ilocos Sur–1st, Nacionalista), from August 13, 2019
Mujiv Hataman (Basilan, Liberal), from August 13, 2019
Mikee Romero (1-Pacman), August 13, 2019 – October 2, 2020 and from October 14, 2020
Fredenil Castro (Capiz–2nd, Lakas), October 2 – November 18, 2020
Paulino Salvador Leachon (Oriental Mindoro–1st, PDP–Laban), from October 14, 2020
Lito Atienza (Buhay), from November 18, 2020
Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro–2nd, CDP), from November 18, 2020
Arnolfo Teves Jr. (Negros Oriental–3rd, PDP–Laban), from December 7, 2020
Benny Abante (Manila–6th, NUP), from December 7, 2020
Wes Gatchalian (Valenzuela–1st, NPC), from December 7, 2020
Eric Martinez (Valenzuela–2nd, PDP–Laban), from December 7, 2020
Juan Pablo Bondoc (Pampanga–4th, PDP–Laban), from December 7, 2020
Bernadette Herrera (Bagong Henerasyon), from December 7, 2020
Divina Grace Yu (Zamboanga del Sur–1st, PDP–Laban), from December 7, 2020
Rogelio Pacquiao (Sarangani, PDP–Laban), from December 7, 2020
Kristine Singson-Meehan (Ilocos Sur–2nd, Bileg), from December 7, 2020
Strike Revilla (Cavite–2nd, NUP), from December 14, 2020
Isidro Ungab (Davao City–3rd, HNP), from December 16, 2020
Abraham Tolentino (Cavite–8th, NUP), from December 16, 2020
Camille Villar (Las Piñas, Nacionalista), from February 2, 2021
Len Alonte (Biñan, PDP–Laban), from March 25, 2021
Majority Floor Leader: Martin Romualdez (Leyte–1st, Lakas)
Minority Floor Leader:
Benny Abante (Manila–6th, NUP), until October 16, 2020
Joseph Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod), from October 19, 2020




Sessions


First Regular Session: July 22, 2019 – June 5, 2020
July 22 – October 4, 2019
October 5 – November 3, 2019
November 4 – December 20, 2019
January 20 – March 13, 2020
March 14 – May 3, 2020
First Special Session: March 23, 2020
May 4 – June 5, 2020
Second Regular Session: July 27, 2020 – June 4, 2021
July 27 – October 12, 2020
Second Special Session: October 13–16, 2020
November 16 – December 18, 2020
January 18 – March 26, 2021
May 17 – June 4, 2021
Third Regular Session: July 26, 2021 – June 3, 2022
July 26 – September 30, 2021
November 8 – December 17, 2021
January 17 – February 4, 2022
May 23 – June 1, 2022




Meeting places


Senate: GSIS Building, Pasay
House of Representatives: Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City
Batangas City Convention Center, Batangas City (January 22, 2020)
Celebrity Sports Plaza, Quezon City (October 12, 2020)




Composition


Both chambers of Congress are divided into parties and blocs. While members are elected via parties, blocs are the basis for committee memberships. Only members of the majority and minority blocs are accorded committee memberships. This is how blocs are determined:

Majority bloc: All members who voted for the Senate President or Speaker during the Senate presidential or speakership election.
Minority bloc: All members who voted for the second-placed candidate during the Senate presidential or speakership election.
Independent minority bloc: All members who did not vote for the winning or second-best nominee during the Senate presidential or speakership election.
Independent bloc: All members who abstained from voting during the Senate presidential or speakership election.
Not a member of any bloc: All members who have not voted during the Senate presidential or speakership election.




Members






= Senate

=

The following are the terms of the senators of this Congress, according to the date of election:

For senators elected on May 9, 2016: June 30, 2016 – June 30, 2022
For senators elected on May 13, 2019: June 30, 2019 – June 30, 2025




= House of Representatives

=
Terms of members of the House of Representatives started on June 30, 2019, took office on July 22, 2019, and ended on June 30, 2022, unless stated otherwise.




Committees






= Constitutional bodies

=




= Senate committees

=




= House of Representatives committees

=




Agenda






= Death penalty

=
As of July 2019, bills seeking to reinstate capital punishment in the Philippines have been revived in the Senate ahead of the opening of the 18th Congress.




= COVID-19 pandemic

=

The 18th Congress enacted the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and Bayanihan to Recover as One Act as response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.




= ABS-CBN franchise renewal

=

In May 2020, the House of Representatives acted on the pending franchise renewal bills of ABS-CBN that has been pending since July 2019.




= House Speakership crisis

=

In 2020, the position of Speaker was disputed, which in the latter part of the year threatened the passage of a bill legislating the national government's budget for 2021. The dispute involved then-speaker and Pateros–Taguig representative Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco. This started in July 2019, when the two had a "term-sharing agreement" which was brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte. Under that deal, Cayetano would serve as House Speaker for the first 15 months of the 18th Congress, or until October 2020. Cayetano was to step down from his position as speaker in order to give way for the election of Velasco as speaker.
Cayetano, in March 2020, accused Velasco and his camp of a conspiracy to remove him from his position as House Speaker. Velasco denied Cayetano's allegation of supposed ouster plot, stating it "baseless." Cayetano initially oversaw deliberations on the 2021 national budget but tensions in the lower house of the Congress grew by September 2020. His camp abruptly ended sessions in which some legislators criticizing the move which prevented them from scrutinizing proposals on the 2021 budget.
Cayetano offered to resign but his camp claim that majority of the House of Representatives declined his resignation. On October 12, 2020, Lord Allan Velasco and some legislators convened at the Celebrity Sports Complex in Quezon City and conducted a house session where positions including the speakership was declared vacant and appointed Velasco as house speaker. Velasco's camp claimed that 186 lawmakers voted for his appointment as house speaker. Cayetano's camp declared the session a "travesty" and questioned the legality of the session itself. Cayetano maintained that he remains as house speaker. On the other hand, Cayetano called the appointment of Velasco as a speaker a "fake session" as he added that there was no prior plenary resolution authorizing the holding of a session outside the Batasang Pambansa and insists that the House of Representative mace used in the meeting is illegal.
On October 13, 2020, during the start of the special session of the House, Velasco's election as House Speaker on October 12, 2020 was formally ratified by 186 representatives assembled in the Batasang Pambansa. At the same time, Cayetano tendered his "irrevocable" resignation as House Speaker on his Facebook Live paving the way for Velasco to assume his position undisputed.




Changes in membership






= House of Representatives

=



District representatives




Party-list representatives





Legislation






= Republic Acts

=

The 18th Congress passed a total of 311 bills which were signed into law by President Rodrigo Duterte. 119 of these laws were national in scope, while 192 were local:




= Treaties

=
One treaty has been approved by the Senate:




Notes






References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Paolo Duterte
• Bahasa Spanyol
• Daftar karya tentang Perusahaan Hindia Timur Belanda
• Batas penanggalan internasional
• 18th Congress of the Philippines
• 18th Congress
• List of bills in the 18th Congress of the Philippines
• Congress of the Philippines
• Francis Tolentino
• Joel Villanueva
• Francis Pangilinan
• Nancy Binay
• Sonny Angara
• 19th Congress of the Philippines