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Philippine political crisis delays thousands of laws

Thu Aug 18, 2:27 AM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - The cost of the political scandals that have consumed the Philippines for several months can be counted in many ways, but perhaps none more strikingly than the number of bills that are gathering dust in Congress -- 4,628.

With legislators devoting their energy to either attacking or defending President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over election fraud and graft charges, one Congressman has called for two extra working days each week to help clear the huge backlog.

Opposition lawmaker Joel Almario said he had written to the lower house speaker to complain about the neglect of more than 2,400 bills affecting local communities, including the establishment of high schools, hospitals and road improvements.

"These local bills get tangled with the national bills, all the privileged speeches ... they don't get to move," Almario told Reuters.

"Constituents in the concerned districts are waiting for the establishment of the high school and they are sacrificing and going to far-flung high schools," Almario added. "This is all caused by the delay of the enactment of local bills into law."

A Congress official said there were 2,456 local bills and 2,172 national bills awaiting approval in the lower house.

The legislative output of Congress, which is dominated by the wealthy and well-born, has shrivelled in recent years even as its budget has risen sharply.

The first Congress after the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 passed more than 800 laws in five years.

The last Congress from 2001 to 2004 only managed to approve 76 laws, a record low.

Analysts have blamed political divisiveness in the wake of Arroyo's rise from vice-president in 2001 on the back of protests that turfed out former actor Joseph Estrada.

After passing several revenue-raising steps to help ease the country's debt problems, the current Congress has spent most of its time digging into allegations against Arroyo that sparked the worst crisis of her four-year presidency.

A lower house hearing into an impeachment complaint against her, including allegations she tried to fix the result of elections last year, is expected to take at least two months and has yet to move beyond squabbling over procedural issues.