Unlocking the "third congress"

By tradition, the deliberations of the bicameral conference committee between the two panels from the Senate and the House of Representatives are held behind closed doors.

- MARICHU A. VILLANUEVA

Called bicam for short, it is tasked with reconciling the provisions of the Senate and House versions of a proposed legislation. Vested with powers to decide in behalf of the two chambers, the bicam has earned the monicker as the "third congress." Among other powers, the bicam can virtually introduce amendments, especially to reconcile differing provisions of the same proposed legislative measure.

As such, the bicam has the ultimate say on the final version of the bill that goes back to the Senate and the Lower House for ratification and voting in plenary session. Composed of an equal number of lawmakers from the two chambers of Congress, the bicam passes upon the final consolidated version of a bill. Even already extensively debated on the floor in both chambers of Congress, the proposed versions of bills go through a different process at the bicam meeting. Thus, the bicam becomes the venue of lawmakers to reach compromise agreements, especially on controversial bills.

If only to finalize a proposed enactment of a bill, there's the usual, unwritten rule of give-and-take negotiations. While these may be well-intentioned deals, it cannot be denied that vested interests come in to play.

Short of calling it the venue for horse-trading, the bicam meeting is being held outside the halls of Congress most of the time. While sessions of both the Senate and the Lower House are normally open to the public audience, the bicam meeting is not. It is also off-limits to media coverage.

Much worse, even officials of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), as the originating source of the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA), are likewise barred from the bicam meeting. The DBM is the principal agency of the Executive department that puts together for the entire government the national expenditure program (NEP) for each budget year.