Committee Affairs Department

The Committee Affairs Department (CAD) provides effective and efficient technical and administrative support services to the Standing and Special Committees of the House of Representatives. It assists in the formulation of the Committees' respective Legislative Agenda including the Committees' Calendar of Business and is responsible for the administration and/or implementation of these concerns. This mandate requires the Department's participation and assistance in all phases of legislation, from the conduct of public hearings and committee meetings, during plenary sponsorship of legislative measures, and until the Bicameral Conference meetings of the House and Senate.

The CAD is headed by the Deputy Secretary General for Committee Affairs who, along with the Executive Director and the Deputy Executive Director, oversees the proper compliance of the staff with technical as well as civil service requirements. It is organized into eleven (11) services, ten (10) of which perform direct committee technical support functions and one (1) which provides critical administrative support to the nine line services.

1. The Management Committee
2. Committee Technical Support Services
3. Committee Administrative Support Services

The highest policy-making body of the Department is Management Committee (MANCOMM). Headed by the Deputy Secretary General for Committee Affairs, it is composed of the different service heads, technical staff chiefs, the Deputy Executive Director and the Executive Director. It recommends policies and amendments to existing regulations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Department and sets the standards by which the performance of the department staff is monitored. The MANCOMM is likewise convened to gather the perspectives of the operating units as it is affected by factors and issues relating to the work of the House and its Committees and to those relating to management decisions.

• ATTY. ARLENE C. DADA-ARNALDO, Deputy Secretary General for Committee Affairs
• VIOLETA T. VELOSO, Executive Director
• LORELEI M. HERNANDEZ, Deputy Executive Director
• ANGELO FIDELINO B. VILLANUEVA, Technical Staff Chief, Committee on Accounts
• CECILIA C. DE SAHAGUN, Technical Staff Chief, Committee on Appropriations
• ZELDA Z. VILLALON, Technical Staff Chief, Committee on Rules
• DONALD Z. MARASIGAN, Technical Staff Chief, Committee on Ways and Means
• LINA L. MORTEGA, Service Director, Cluster 1 (Economic 1)
• LINA Q. JONES, Service Director, Cluster 2 (Economic 2)
• ATTY. BENJAMIN M. TAGAYUNA, JR., Service Director, Cluster 3 (Social Services)
• MAY M. ARANETA, Service Director, Cluster 4 (Governance)
• ATTY. DAVID ROBERT U. AMORIN, Service Director, Cluster 5 (Legal/Political 1)
• VIVIAN L. NACION, Service Director, Committee Administrative Support Service
• CAROLINA G. CUSTODIO, Service Director, Office of the Executive Director
• NENITA M. CASEM, OIC-Service Director, Committee on Accounts
• JULIETA R. APOSTOL, Service Director, Committee on Appropriations
• JENNIFER A. BAQUIRAN, OIC-Service Director, Committee on Rules
• ATTY. PANCHO A. BELEN, Service Director, Committee on Ways and Means

The ten (10) line services perform the following specific functions:

1. Assist in the preparation of the Committees' Legislative Agenda and calendar and review them in the light of current issues and involvement of other committees;
2. Network with various sectors of society to ensure their participation in the legislative process on matters affecting them;
3. Provide technical support services during Committee meetings and public hearings, plenary sponsorship and debate of measures and conference committee discussions;
4. Prepare Committee Reports for approval on Second Reading and Conference Committee Reports for ratification by both chambers, with their corresponding amendatory, consolidated, or substitute bills and fact sheets;
5. Prepare Spot Reports and Minutes of the Meetings/ Public Hearings as well as other reports on the accomplishments of the various committees;
6. Attend to the administrative needs of the various committees such as arrangements for Committee meetings and public hearings, recording of Committee activities/decisions, as well as safekeeping of Committee records and files;
7. Consult with other committees / services to resolve conflicts on jurisdiction;
8. Initiate the holding of special events such as exhibits, seminars and symposia on occasions significant to the Committees' concerns to highlight issues, legislative proposals and accomplishments.

Six (6) of the line services are composed of the staff of Committees clustered according to related concerns.

Each of these services is headed by a Service Director who is assisted by an executive staff.

Four (4) of the Standing Committees are served by full service complements owing to the magnitude and scope of their jurisdictional concerns. These are the Committees on Appropriations, Ways and Means, Committee on Accounts, and the Committee on Rules. While being directly supervised by a Service Director, the technical rudiments peculiar to these committees are overseen by their respective Technical Staff Chiefs who exercise over-all supervision and control over the staff.

This service facilitates the provision of administrative and financial services to support the Committees in coordination with concerned secretariat units. It performs the following functions:

1. Records, transcribes in verbatim and prints out the proceedings of committee meetings, public hearings and bicameral conferences;
2. Publishes and distributes Committee information materials including the COMMITTEE NEWS, a daily publication summarizing the proceedings of and agreements made during Committee meetings and the WEEKLY SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE ACTION which is prepared for the leadership of the House and the Secretariat;
3. Supports the Committee staff during Committee meetings by providing Page services, including the reception of guests, attendance monitoring and reproduction of appropriate materials necessary in Committee meetings;
4. Transmits Notices of Meetings as required under the Rules of the House of Representatives;
5. Publishes and posts the Calendar of Committee Meetings including the Committee Agenda;
6. Makes arrangements for food, venue and facilities requirements of the in-house meetings of Committees; and
7. Prepares the budgetary requirements of the Department and attends to the safekeeping, maintenance and monitoring of the utilization of supplies and properties of the Department.