In legislation, a bill refers to a draft proposal for the creation of a specific law that shall be

implemented in the country. And just like any country with a similar government structure, a bill
does not become a law in the Philippines unless it is passed by the two houses of Congress—
the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Once signed by the President, the bill is deemed enacted, becoming an act or a law. It will
eventually be implemented by the respective agency in the executive branch of the government
under the Office of the President.

So, how exactly does a bill become a law?

The Lawmaking Process in the Philippines

1. The bill is prepared.

1. Preparation of the Bill

As senators and representatives engage with their constituents, ideas for laws may come up. If
lawmakers decide that solutions to the concerns of their constituents can be addressed by passing
a law, they carefully study the ideas and write them into bills. Individuals and groups may also
draft bills and ask their lawmakers to file them in Congress.

Furthermore, the president of the Philippines also outlines his or her legislative agenda during
the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA). Different executive departments and agencies
under the president will draft the relevant bills in support of the agenda of the president and
transmit them to Congress for legislative action.

2. First Reading

Once the bill is finalized, it is filed with the Bills and Index Service and is numbered and
reproduced. Three days after its filing, the proposed measure is included in the Order of Business
for First Reading in the session. The session hall is where all lawmakers convene for a plenary
session.

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 During the First Reading, the secretary of either the House of Representatives or the Senate reads
the number and title of the bill. Then, the presiding officer—President of the Senate or Speaker
of the House of Representatives—refers the bill to the appropriate committee.

3. Committee Consideration/Action

After the referral of the bill, the committee where the bill was referred to will determine if there
is a need to conduct public hearings or not.

• If yes: Should it be decided that there is a need to conduct a public hearing, the committee then
schedules the hearing, sends public notices containing the agenda as well as the time and venue
of the hearing, and invites relevant resource persons from the government and the private sector
and special interest groups to the meeting for their input.
• If no: On the other hand, should it be decided by the committee that there is no need to conduct a
public hearing, they will just schedule the bill for committee discussions.
From the result of the public hearings or committee discussions, the bill may be amended,
consolidated (if there are other similar bills filed), or be substituted with another bill by the
committee.

A committee report is prepared after. Chiefly, a committee report designates the “purpose and
scope of the bill, explains any committee amendments, indicates proposed changes in existing
law and such other materials that are relevant,” per the Senate website.

Once the report is approved by the committee, it will be transmitted to the office which handles
the processing of bills or resolutions and the documentation of plenary proceedings and debates
in the plenary.

4. Second Reading

The Committee Report is registered and numbered by the Bills and Index Service and then
included in the Order of Business and referred to the Committee on Rules, which has jurisdiction
over all matters affecting the rules of the Senate or the House of Representatives, the calendar,
parliamentary rules, the order and manner of transacting business, and the creation of
committees. The Committee on Rules is headed by the Majority Leader of the Senate and the
House of Representatives as chairperson.

The bill is then scheduled for consideration on Second Reading. This is one of the most
challenging stages in passing a bill. During the Second Reading, the Secretary of the Senate or
the Secretary General of the House of Representatives reads the number, title, and text of the bill.

Upon motion of the Majority Floor Leader, the floor will be opened for the Period of
Sponsorship and Debate wherein the Committee Chairman reads the Sponsorship Speech for the

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 bill. This will be followed by the interpellation or debate wherein the sponsor defends the merit
of the proposed bill before his or her colleagues in session.

Once the period of Sponsorship and Debate is closed, the Period of Amendments is opened,
wherein other lawmakers can propose the specific wordings, stylistics, and intents that they want
to be included in the final version of the bill.

After the amendments, the bill’s approval for Second Reading will be voted on by all legislators
of the house. Voting can be done either by viva voce (“aye” and "nay”), count by tellers, division
of the house, or nominal voting.

5. Third Reading

After the Second Reading, the amendments proposed by the legislators are absorbed. Printed
copies of the bill are then reproduced for Third Reading. The bill is then included in the Calendar
of Bills for Third Reading and the copies are distributed to all the members three days before its
reading in the plenary.

On the actual day, the secretary reads only the number and title of the bill. Then, upon motion of
the Majority Leader, the roll call or nominal voting is called. By nominal voting, all the members
cast their "yes" or "no" vote orally to the proposed measure and are given time to explain their
vote. Amendments are no longer allowed during the Third Reading.

If the bill got a majority vote, it is considered approved. If it got disapproved, it is transmitted to
the Archives of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

6. Transmittal of the Approved Bill to the Counterpart House

The Philippine Congress is a bicameral legislature composed of two co-equal houses: The House
of Representatives and the Senate. Thus, a bill cannot become a law unless each house has given
its nod on the proposed measure.

Once a bill is approved, for example, at the House of Representatives, it is then transmitted to the
Senate for its concurrence and undergoes the same process in the Senate. The same is also true
when the Senate passes a bill, it transmits it to the House of Representatives for its concurrence.

7. Conference Committee

Granting that the bill has also passed in the other house of Congress, there are instances when the
versions of both houses differ from each other. As entities that must produce a single output

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 being one of its primary duties as the legislative branch of the Philippine government, both
houses will sit down with each other in a bicameral Conference Committee meeting.

The Conference Committee shall be composed of Members of the House of Representatives and
the Senate, who will “settle, reconcile or thresh out differences on any provision of the bill.”

Aside from reconciling the differences in each version of the bills, the members of the committee
may also introduce new, but relevant, provisions in the bill.

Thereafter, a Conference Committee Report is prepared for the signature of the Chairman and
the members of the committee. This report shows the changes made in the bill and explaining the
action of each side of the members of both houses. What follows is the submission of the report
to both houses for approval.

However, it's important to remember that there are bills wherein the Senate will just adopt the
version of the House of Representatives, and vice-versa, so the need for a Conference Committee
is no longer necessary.

8. Transmittal of the Bill to the President of the Philippines

The approved bill, signed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of
the Senate and certified by the Secretary General of the House of Representatives and the
Secretary of the Senate, is transmitted to the Office of the President. The President has three
options on what to do with the bill:

• Sign and pass the bill: The bill is assigned with a Republic Act number and becomes a law.
• Veto the bill: By refusing to sign, the bill is sent back to the House of Representatives, along
with the reasons for the veto. If both houses of Congress decide that the bill or any of its vetoed
provisions should still become a law, they will separately hold a vote. If two-thirds (2/3) of the
members of both houses voted for support of the bill, the President’s veto is overridden.
Therefore, the bill becomes a law.
• Pocket veto the bill: The President may do nothing with the bill. However, even with the
inaction of the chief executive, the bill automatically becomes a law after thirty days (while
Congress is still in session).
The bill is reproduced and copies are sent to the Official Gazette Office for publication and
distribution to the implementing agencies. It is then included in the annual compilation of Acts
and Resolutions. Then, the concerned agencies of the executive branch of government will
finally work on the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) of the law.

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