By Nazario Rodriguez Jr.
Horizon news staff

Senator Santy Asanuma yesterday issued a press release batting for an equal distribution of the various committees, which he said is concentrated mainly to just four Senators.
In a strongly worded statement, Asanuma said he would like to give the public the other side of the Senate drama.
He said the 7th Senate has turned into a circus with the Senators continue to amuse the public with their outrageous and wild behaviors in drinking places in town and uncontrollably throwing irresponsible statements on or off the air as part of their service to the Palauan people.
Asanuma, however, did not name names.
"In truth, the Senate working machine, which is the committees, should be working hard on the pending bills," he said.
Asanuma said that Sen. Koshiba was right in saying that the committees should be distributed to all the eight senators so that the Senate could be more productive.
"Nothing is far from the truth as the work load of the Senate has clearly become overwhelming to only four senators heading the committees," he said.
Asanuma noted that as of August 5, 2006 all eight committees were consolidated as follows: Ways and Means and Financial Matters (WMFM) chaired by Sen. Alan Seid while being the Floor Leader; Judiciary, governmental Affairs and Foreign Relations (JGAFR), chaired by Koshiba; Health, Education and Social Welfare (HESW) chaired by Senate Vice President Mlib Tmetuchl; Resource, Commerce, Trade and Development (RCTD) chaired by Alfonso Diaz, who also took over Capital Improvement Projects (CIP).
Asanuma explained that as a practice of the Senate, the committee chairmen control the work schedule on pending bills.
"In the established honor system, committee members respect the chairman if and when he decides to report on a certain bills to the floor for discussion among all senators," he said.
In this set-up, he said that the chairmen are powerful in terms of what bills to become law and which ones will be shelved indefinitely or is considered as dead.
Asanuma said the number of pending bills include 24 Senate Bills and 10 House Bills with the WMFM; 47 Senate Bills and nine House Bills with the JGAFR; 16 Senate Bills and seven House Bills with the HESW; and 16 Senate Bills and 16 House Bills with the RCTD.
Asanuma said that this is the reason why the Senate should not waste any more time and have all the Senators will sit as chair in different committees so that the bills that are considered revenue-generating that are stuck in RCTD and WMFM could be passed for the benefit of the Palauan people.
A special session was scheduled Tuesday May 1 but there was no quorum.
Included in the agenda is a Resolution seeking for an amendment of Rule 7 of the Rules of Procedure, stretching the current four committees into eight.
The eight committees that Resolution No. 7-116, authored by Senate President Surangel Whipps Sr., is seeking to establish include Judiciary, Governmental Affairs (JGA), Resources, Commerce, Trade and Development (RCTD), Ways and Means and Financial Matters (WMFM), Health and Education (HE), Tourism Development and Cultural Affairs (TDCA), Foreign Affairs and State Relations (FASR), Capital Improvement Projects (CIP).
On Wednesday May 2, Whipps has wrote all the Senators to inform them of a meeting on Monday may 7 with the purpose of reviewing the status table, address all legislation and resolutions pending in the committee to determine how they would expedite the passages and adoption.
Asanuma explained that according to the Rules of Procedure of the Senate, the Resolution would have to be introduced in the floor after which it will be referred to the Committee of the Whole, which is to be chaired by the Floor Leader.
Floor Leader Seid is expected to arrive today from the 116th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bali, Indonesia.
Asanuma said that a reorganization of the Senate committees, as proposed by Resolution 7-116, is an answer to what Sen. Koshiba was saying that the Senate is not moving fast.
"That Resolution is the proper action by the Senate. We want the people to stop criticizing the Senate for being unproductive but we need two sessions to do it," Asanuma said.