Pacquiao, 3 Arroyos among top House absentees in 2011
ANDREO CALONZO
GMA News
January 5, 2012
Three members of the Arroyo clan were among the top absentees in the House of Representatives last year, data released on Thursday by the House secretariat showed. World boxing champ and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao was absent more often than he was present.
Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo was the congressman with the third highest number of absences, attending only 26 of the 59 session days in 2011.
Ang Galing Pinoy party-list Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, meanwhile, was present during 33 session days, making him the eighth congressman with the highest number of absences.
His mother, former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, attended only 35 session days last year. She was able to file formal notices of absence due to medical reasons during the 24 session days she failed to attend sessions, House secretariat records showed.
Last year, Mrs. Arroyo underwent a series of surgeries to correct a pinched nerve in her spine. She is currently recuperating from bone mineral disorder and hypoparathyroidism while detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for poll sabotage charges.
But another member of the Arroyo clan — Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado "Dato" Macapagal-Arroyo — was one of the 27 House members who posted a perfect attendance last year.
Ecleo Dinagat Island Rep. Ruben Ecleo, however, topped the list of absentees with only 8 session days present. He was able to file notice of absences for the 45 session days he was not present, saying he was on official local business.
Ecleo, the supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, has not been attending sessions while contesting an arrest warrant issued against him by the Sandiganbayan in February last year for a graft case.
He is also linked to the brutal killing of his third wife, Alona Bacolod, whose decomposing body was found in January 2002.
Jules, Pacquiao Davao del Norte Rep. Anthony del Rosario, meanwhile, ranked second in terms of absenteeism, with 25 session days present. He was able to file official notices for 33 days that he was absent.
World boxing champ and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao ranked fourth, with 27 session days present and 38 absences without official notices.
For their part, Negros Occidental Rep. Julio Ledesma IV, Agusan del Sur Rep. Maria Valentina Plaza and Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce-Enrile Jr. were tied in fifth place, with 30 absences each.
Under Section 70 of the current House rules, a congressman who did not respond to the roll call but was in an official meeting or business inside or outside the country is considered present.
Section 7, meanwhile, states that one of the duties of a lawmaker is to “attend plenary sessions and meetings of committees of which they are members or where their proposed legislative measures are under consideration." — RSJ, GMA News
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