HOUSE Secretary General Reginald Velasco has shared the positive experience of the Philippine House of Representatives in the historic creation of a Quad Committee to conduct joint investigation, in aid of legislation, into intricate issues involved in the proliferation of dangerous drugs, unlawful activities prevalent and linked to online gaming organizations and extrajudicial killings.
Velasco shared his insights last Tuesday (October 15) during his speech at the Meeting of the Association of Secretaries General of Parliaments (ASGP) headed by its president Najib El Khadi, in parallel with the 149th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, at the CICG – the Geneva International Conference Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
Velasco’s speech delved on the topic “Managing Conflicting Competencies Between Parliamentary Committees” wherein he underscored that inter-committee disagreements happen due to jurisdictional overlap, shared policy interests, or broad subject area.
“The adoption of a quad committee seemed to be more efficient and economical. Clashes among Committee Chairmen occurred; however, these were resolved immediately among themselves,” he said.
He said competencies of parliamentary committees in the Philippines are harmonized to achieve a common goal in the shortest period of time and at the least cost possible.
“This approach also addresses common issues belonging to different committee jurisdictions and common resource persons receiving separate invitations from different committees. The end result is a wholistic and comprehensive report submitted to the Plenary by the joint committees tasked to inquire or investigate on matters, in aid of legislation,” he said.
For the first time in Philippine parliament, he said four committees of varying jurisdiction are holding a joint hearing on interwoven and intricate issues.
The quad committee meetings are held in public, livestreamed at the House of Representatives’ web page or any platform approved by the lead chairperson of the joint committee, except in executive sessions.
The Quad Committee’s creation was preceded by the passage recently by the House of Representatives of a resolution authorizing four committees known as the Quad Committee to conduct joint investigation in aid of legislation relative to the above mentioned issues.
“Four separate resolutions were passed touching on four separate jurisdictions all arising from the proliferation of illegal drugs, irregularities in the procurement process and unlawful contracts, criminal activities and unlawful acts linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). During the course of the investigations of these committees, first separately, it was prevalent that one committee cannot tackle the other issues because it may encroach in the jurisdiction of the other committee,” he said.
Moreover, he said that there are identical or common personalities needed in the hearing who may be invited as resource persons.
“The interwoven and intricate issues involved in the hearings of the committees from proliferation of dangerous drugs, unlawful activities, extrajudicial killings warranted a joint investigation and a wholistic and comprehensive submission of a Report to the Plenary,” he said.
He explained that multiple referrals is resorted to accommodate the prerogatives of the various standing committees that share jurisdiction over a subject matter. It encourages interactions between and among committees with overlapping responsibilities for policy topics.
At the committee level, he said inter-committee disagreements can be resolved through (1) memoranda of understanding, (2) select committees, (3) standing committee creation, (4) jurisdictional transfers, (5) task forces, (6) committee composition, (7) joint hearings and (8) informal staff consultations.
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