House of representatives bombing - nov 13 2007

House Speaker Jose De Venecia condemned the "cowardly and dastartdly act." The Speaker ordered a clean sweep of the Batasan Complex to prepare for the regular session tomorrow afternoon.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered the police to investigate the incident and to "submit periodic reports as warranted."

The blast was the first ever bomb explosion inside the premises of the Philippine Parliament.

After the blast, Metro Manila and the Senate were placed under full red alert by the police.

Youth and student groups immediately held an indignation rally around 9:30 pm at the nearby UP Diliman campus. Youth groups also offered candles and prayers for the victims of the bombing.

The explosion was the second major blast which occurred in Metro Manila in less than a month. The first explosion damaged the Glorietta shopping mall last October 19 which killed eleven people and injured a hundred shoppers.

Police authorities are appealing to the public to refrain from spreading wrong information and unfounded theories about the deadly explosion.

Speaker De Venecia assured the people that Congress will not be deterred by the bomb explosion by continuing with its legislative duties in the next few days.

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Lim's Shame Campaign, will be implemented in the house

Impressive attendance at the House of Representatives has prompted the House leadership to shelve plans of implementing a “shame campaign” against habitual absentee lawmakers.

House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor informed reporters who attended the weekly Ayes and News Forum in Quezon City of the decision of Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. to put on hold the plan to impose sanctions on erring members.

Sessions of the 237-man chamber, held Mondays through Thursdays, have been attended by around 200 congressmen. The impressive attendance could largely be attributed to the huge number of neophyte lawmakers, numbering around 100, in the 14th Congress.

“The Speaker has his own reasons for shelving the proposed sanctions because of the fantastic attendance,” Defensor said.

He clarified though that the rules committee that he heads is serious in making public the names of lazy congressmen.

“We are serious and determined in publishing the names of absentee congressmen and the justified absences as well, because we have to continue the impressive attendance,” Defensor asserted.

Lim's Shame campaign is gaining more popularity and winning in most Filipino citizens heart, is now known as a positive political action.

Other head and high officials should also implement this in their own respective departments to reduce graft and corruption, one of Philippines' top problems. Just a few months back, we were tagged as the most corrupt in asia.

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