"So far as we are concerned, we finished it (anti-terrorism bill). The ball is in the court of the Lower House (House of Representatives) now as far as the proposed measure is concerned," Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said .

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said he is agreeable to the President’s call for a special session to pass pending bills which were not acted upon by the House for lack of quorum.

Although the Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the controversial anti-terror bill before it went on recess at 8:30 p.m. last Thursday, the House closed its doors for a three-month election recess at 8 o’clock that night.

Sen. Richard J. Gordon also favored the special session for the House to pass the tourism bill on third and final reading. The Senate passed the Gordon-sponsored tourism bill on third and final reading last Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. said the call for a special session sought by Speaker Jose de Venecia is out place.

"He (de Venecia) wants more money for 10 billion trees. If granted, even the birds and trees will vote for administration bets in May. How sad that moneymaking is now the administration’s name of the game," Pimentel said.

Opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, one of six re-electionist senators, said he favors the special session if its agenda is to pass urgent bills which the Senate had passed in "three sleepless nights" but were unacted upon by the House.

But Lacson said he would vigorously reject a special session just to effect the decision of the majority bloc in the Lower House to suspend Taguig- Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and make the First Gentleman, Jose Miguel Arroyo happy.

After the Senate went on recess last Thursday night, Villar commended all the senators and their staff for their cooperation, particularly in working round the clock in the last few weeks to finish all pending work.

"During the last few weeks, sessions lasted until the wee hours of the morning so we can wipe out whatever backlog there is. I thank everyone for their cooperation. We did this to make sure that no pending work will be left undone and we succeeded," Villar said.

Villar cited the good performance of the Senate which passed the highest number of measures in the last decade or so.

President calls for special session to tackle anti-terror bill

By DAVID CAGAHASTIAN

President Arroyo yesterday called for a special session of Congress on Feb. 19 and 20 to allow the passage of the anti-terrorism bill which the body failed to pass before adjourning its session last Thursday.

Mrs. Arroyo signed Proclamation No. 1235 to convene Congress in a special session.

She welcomed the passage of the anti-terrorism bill in the bicameral conference committee and announced she will sign it into law as soon as it is ratified by the House of Representatives during the special session of Congress.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said the Chief Executive has decided to call a special session of Congress to allow the Lower House to ratify the antiterrorism bill and pave the way for its transmission to Malacañang for approval before the elections.

De Venecia said the special session of Congress would also tackle other important bills pending before bicameral conference committees, like the one creating a credit information bureau.

Malacañang lauded the impending passage in Congress of the anti-terrorism bill, despite the amendments made by the Senate to appease public fears that it may be used to crack down on critics of the Arroyo administration.

"The swift passage of the anti-terror bill by the bicameral conference committee of both chambers of Congress underscores the resolute commitment of all our institutions to the relentless fight against terror," Press Secretary and Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

The bicameral conference committee on the anti-terrorism bill has approved the proposed measure which would provide authorities with extra powers in thwarting terrorist attacks, including holding suspects without charge for a maximum of three days.

The committee’s version of the anti-terrorism bill is a weaker version of the original measure which proposed giving authorities the power to detain terror suspects for a maximum of 15 days without filing charges against them.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said Mrs. Arroyo is not expected to veto certain provisions of the bill.

"We can live with the amendments. The important thing is that we already have this law, then other amendments could be made later," Gonzales said.