By Fel V. Maragay

TO help the public better appreciate the workings of the Senate, the in-house rules will be translated into Filipino on the request of Senator Lito Lapid.

The move to translate the rules into the native language was approved by the Senate committee on rules chaired by Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Lapid, who was elected to the Senate in 2004, said he is one of those who will benefit from the Filipino version of the rules because he is more conversant with the national language.

This handicap in English explains why Lapid rarely speaks on the floor, and refrains from taking part in debates on legislative measures.

In Resolution l9, the movie actor and former Pampanga governor said ?the Senate, as an important institution of governance and venue for public discussions of issues, can make itself more accessible to the people by translating its rules into Filipino.?

Lapid took note of the fact that the Senate?s rules have always been written in English since it was restored in l987.

Senator Mar Roxas suggested the translation should be made in simple Filipino so those who are from non-Tagalog speaking provinces will easily understand the text.

?We should not sound as if we are having a Balagtasan,? Roxas remarked, in jest.

Zubiri said that perhaps there should also be a Cebuano translation of the rules while Roxas sought an Ilonggo version.

Meanwhile, the rules committee is going slow on a proposal to allow detained Senator Antonio Trillanes to take part in Senate proceedings through teleconferencing due to an unfavorable legal opinion from Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez.

Zubiri said his panel sought the legal opinion of the justice secretary to make sure that the proposal will not contravene any law or jurisprudence that may put the Senate in an awkward situation.

Trillanes has been in detention while rebellion and coup d?etat charges against him are being tried by the court.

?Based on the legal opinion of Secretary Gonzalez, no prisoner should be accorded special treatment... It states that allowing Trillanes to participate in Senate deliberations through teleconferencing is a form of special treatment,? Zubiri told newsmen.

Gonzalez cited rulings of the Supreme Court and Judge Oscar Pimentel of the Regional Trial Court in Makati City to support his opinion.