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RULES OF PROCEDURE
I. Scope
1. These rules apply to all delegates and committees of PMC-DLSU in all floor
sessions.
2. The PMC-DLSU rules of procedure shall be considered self-sustained; no other
rules of procedure shall apply to the conference.
3. Chairpersons are the final arbiters on questions of procedure and may, in the
interests of debate and order, amend these rules at his or her discretion.
II. The Chair
1. The presiding officers of plenary and committee sessions are referred to as
chairpersons or chairs pre-selected by the PMC Moderator Board
2. The Chair of a committee shall direct discussions, put questions, accord the right
to speak, decide all questions of order, affix his or her signature on all written
documents and ensure and enforce observance of the rules of procedure.
3. The Chair of each committee has the following powers, duties and
responsibilities:
1. to declare the opening and closing of each session of the body,
2. to recognize all speakers,
3. to decide all points of order and procedural questions,
4. to conduct votes and announce their results,
5. to preserve order and decorum.
4. If for any reason the presiding officer must temporarily relinquish the Chair, he
or she will appoint another staff member as a replacement Chair. The
temporary Chair will preside until the return of the regular presiding officer,
who will resume his or her position with the associated powers and duties.
5. The chair shall not vote except to break a tie.
III. Delegates
1. Each delegate will be assigned to one committee of the House of
Representatives. A delegate participates in the work of that committee and is
expected to actively participate in the introduction, debate and voting of bills
and resolutions.
2. Every delegate shall be present at all committee and plenary sessions for the
duration of the conference unless otherwise excused.
3. Delegates may not assign proxies or other people to vote on motions or
legislation on their behalf.
4. Delegates are at all times expected to ask courteous and within the bounds of
parliamentary behaviour. Delegates shall not make any slanderous,
discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate remarks. The Chair shall reserve full
discretion to dismiss any delegate from the proceedings of PMC-DLSU.
5. Delegates are referred to as “the Representative from [District]” or “the Delegate
from [District]” or as “the Honourable Delegate” – all members of committees
shall be referred to in the third person (personal names are not permitted)
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IV. Quorum
1. The Chair shall declare the opening of the session when at least one-third of all
delegates are present.
2. Debate will be in order when 1/3 of the registered delegates assigned to the
committee are present. No vote on any substantive question or motion will be
taken unless a majority of the registered delegates are present.
3. Roll calls will be held prior to the beginning or resumption of any committee
and plenary session.
4. The Chair shall declare the simple majority and 3/4ths majority counts based on
the quorum.
5. If a Delegate is late for a session, he shall pass a note to the Chair indicating his
presence and the quorum will be adjusted accordingly.
V. Bills and Resolutions (aka Main Motions)
1. Introducing Legislation
1. Delegates may introduce bills and resolutions for the committee on
which they serve by submitting bills to the PMC organizing committee
for screening. The organizing committee will make bills approved for
debate available to delegates.
2. A properly formatted bill or resolution is considered when it has been
submitted to the Chair of the committee and distributed to the billbooks
of all delegates in that committee.
3. Delegates are expected to follow proper formatting, grammar and
punctuation before submitting legislation.
2. Types of Legislation
1. A bill is a congressional enactment which amends current legislation,
enacts a new law, or otherwise takes action on a matter. A majority vote
is required to pass a bill.
2. A resolution is a measure which merely affects the internal workings of
Congress or piece of legislation that is used to express the sense or
opinion of the Congress or to offer official recommendations to the other
branches of government. Resolutions do not become law and cannot
include any changes to existing statutes. A majority vote is required to
pass a resolution.
3. Agenda
1. The Chairpersons will collate and review all legislation which has passed
by committees and will set the agenda for plenary sessions. Bills and
resolutions are considered approved once passed in plenary.
2. The Chair will determine the order of legislation. The Agenda may be
changed only after a Motion to Suspend the Rules has been passed by a
2/3 vote of the delegates. However, the Chair has the right to insert new
legislation where he or she deems appropriate.
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VI. Debate
1. Recognition
1. No delegate may make any statement in debate without first being
recognized by the Chair. Delegates may be recognized by raising their
placards when the floor is opened by the Chair. Any delegate recognized
for debate is entitled to the floor for the speaking time set by the chair or
body.
2. When a Delegate wishes to speak on any motion or question, he shall
raise his placard in order to be entered onto the speakers’ list by the
Chair. There shall be one continually open general Speakers List on the
issue before the floor. Secondary Speakers Lists will be established for
debates on amendments.
2. Decorum
1. Delegates must confine their remarks in debate to the pending
legislation. Personal remarks must not enter into debate.
2. All remarks must be addressed to the Chair. There shall be no direct
dialogue between delegates.
3. Any delegate violating these rules may, at the discretion of the Chair,
lose the floor and any speaking time.
3. Process
1. To determine order of the bills and resolutions to be debated, the main
sponsors or selected representatives of the bills up for debate will give a
speech no longer than 2 minutes to justify why their bill or resolution
should be debated. Through the motion to set the agenda, the house will
vote on the order of bills and reolutions will be debated in.
2. Debate on a bill or resolution will begin with structured debate, which is
to consist of alternating speeches for and against the motion . After
each speech, 1 minute will be given to entertain questions.. While the
Chair will ask for points and motions in between speeches, no
amendments may be proposed during this time.
3. Structured debate for a bill or resolution consists of four speeches, the
first two lasting up to 4 minutes, and the latter two lasting up to 2
minutes. The first speech is given by the sponsor of the motion (author
of the legislation), or a delegate chosen by the sponsor
4. The next speech will be given by a delegate opposed to the motion or
legislation. The following two speeches will alternate between delegates
in favor of and opposed to the bill or resolution. A delegate recognized
during structured debate is to represent a particular viewpoint and must
confine his or her remarks only to that viewpoint.
5. General debate will then follow, considering the main motion. Speeches
in general debate are limited to 1.5 minutes each and are not restricted to
any particular viewpoint. They may be used for the introduction of
amendments.
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4. Amendments
1. Amendments for substantive points will be passed to moderators for
screening. It is the perogative of the moderator to tackle the
ammendment on the floor via structured debate.
2. Amendments for non substantive points (grammar, typo, etc.) may be
raised verbally.
3. A primary amendment is a change or addition to the legislation under
discussion. Consideration of a primary amendment is limited to 15
minutes.
4. A secondary amendment is a change or addition to a primary
amendment (amendment to an amendment). There shall be no
amendments to secondary amendments. Consideration of a secondary
amendment is limited to 10 minutes.
5. Structured debate on an amendment consists of two speeches, one
given by its author and one given by a delegate opposing the
amendment. Speeches will be limited to 3 minutes for a primary
amendment, and to 2 minutes for a secondary amendment. In both
cases, general debate on amendments consists of 2 minute speeches.
Secondary amendments are in order only during general debate on a
primary amendment.
5. Yielding
1. If a Delegate exceeds his allotted time, the Chairperson shall call him to
order without delay in order to yield the floor.
2. After finishing a speech, a delegate has three options in yielding his
remaining time on the floor which may be overruled by the Chair at
anytime
- Yield his time to accepting points of information from the body
- Yields to the Chair, whereby his time is ended and the floor is
open for motions.
- Yield to another Delegate, who may then rise and use this time to
address the Committee. Speaking time is reset for the next
Delegate..
6. Legislation Time Limits
1. The total time for consideration of a bill or resolution is 45 minutes.
After this time has elapsed, the Chair will put the main motion, together
with any other motions which may be pending, to a vote. A motion to
extend debate may be made. Debate can be extended for a maximum of
20 minutes.
2. Debate may be closed (motion to move to voting procedure), extended
(motion to extend debate), or limited (motion to limit the debate) by a 2/3
majority vote. Debate may be extended for no more than 15 minutes at a
time.
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VII. Voting
1. All voting will be by placard vote.
2. No debate is in order during a vote, and no motions may be made except for
Points of Order or Privilege related directly to the conduct of voting.
3. A majority vote, or 2/3 vote when necessary, is determined with reference only
to those Members voting "For or "Against." (or “Aye” or “Nay”) Abstentions and
absentees are not counted.
4. A motion passes only if a majority of the delegates voting do so in the
affirmative; tied motions, including 2/3 to 1/3, are decided upon by the Chair.
5.
VIII. Motions
1. Definition and Guidelines
1. A motion is a formal proposal put to a legislature or committee.
2. Only bills and issues open for debate may be discussed. Motions may
only be made when the floor is open
3. When the floor is open, Members may rise and be recognized by the
Chair by raising their placards.
4. The floor is open if no delegate of the committee or staff is speaking and
when indicated by the Chair.
5. Only those motions listed below will be recognized at Philippine Model
Congress
6. A motion that has failed may not be reconsidered.
2. The order of precedence of the motions is as shown, in ascending order. When
a motion is pending, only motions with a higher number, as shown below, are
in order.
1. The Chair must recognize delegates before they may state the point or
motion to which they rise. Moreover, the Chair may amend the order of
precedence in the interests of debate and order or rule Points and
Motions "dilatory" when they are seen to be interfering with debate.
3. MAIN MOTION:
1. This is a bill or resolution introduced to a committee. No second is
required to introduce this. A majority of votes is required to approve a
bill or resolution. The order in which the bills are called is determined by
the chair’s docket.
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4. SUBSIDARY MOTION:
1. These are motions which affect the main motion, rules of procedure or
otherwise. A table of these are listed below.
a. AMEND: The text of a bill or resolution may be altered by passage of
this motion. An amendment may also be altered by a secondary
amendment (amendments beyond the secondary level are not
permitted). This motion may be introduced only when one has the
floor during General Debate.
- If an amendment is acceptable to the sponsor of the main motion
(or primary amendment), it is deemed a friendly amendment and
is incorporated into the motion without debate or vote. If deemed
an unfriendly amendment, debate may be held.
- Amendments require a second and a simple majority vote in
order to be debated. If this motion carries, the amendment is
considered and voted upon before resuming consideration of the
bill or resolution in question. The amendment must be clearly
relevant to the bill or resolution. It must be presented in writing
to the Chair on an amendment sheet.
- Motions to Amend are considered received once an amendment
sheet is received by the Chair.

2. MOTION TO POSTPONE DEBATE: If this motion is adopted, debate on

the pending main motion is postponed. A time for the resumption of
debate must be specified, and the motion must be seconded.

A Motion to Postpone Debate should be used only when the committee's

attention needs to be temporarily directed to a more urgent matter, or
when more time is needed before productive debate can occur (e.g. the
sponsor needs to research a crucial fact).

3. MOTION TO LAY UPON THE TABLE: If this motion is adopted, debate

on the pending legislation is suspended. Debate may be resumed if a
motion to TAKE FROM THE TABLE is adopted by majority vote. One of
the few examples where laying a bill on the table would be in order is if
the bill needs significant rewriting to pass committee.

4. MOTION TO DIVIDE THE QUESTION: This motion may be made if a

delegate wishes to vote upon separately, various provisions in a
bill. A delegate making such a motion must specify how the bill
will be divided and must specify his or her reasoning. If Division of the
Question is passed, the individual portions specified are voted upon
separately. Those sections which are adopted become the new bill,
which is then voted upon as a whole.
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Division of the Question is used when members of the committee cannot

reach a consensus on which portions of a bill or resolution they support,
and want the opportunity to consider individual sections separately.

5. MOTION TO SUSPEND THE RULES: This motion, if passed by 2/3 vote,

suspends the rules of procedure. Any delegate rising to this motion must
specify the purpose of suspending the rules. The suspension expires
automatically when its purpose is completed. If necessary, the Chair may
suspend the rules for the purpose of allowing the testimony of a Cabinet
Secretary or the President.

Common uses of a motion to suspend the rules include to give the bill’s
sponsors several minutes to answer questions, to change the order of the
docket, or to extend the speaking time of a delegate to allow him or her
to continue to answer questions. In addition, this motion must be used to
permit a speaker from outside a body to participate in the body's
proceedings.

6. MOTION TO EXTEND DEBATE: If adopted by a 2/3 vote, this motion

changes the time limits of debate on a bill, resolution, or amendment.
Delegates must specify the amount of time for extension. This motion
may be overruled by the chair at his or her discretion.

7. MOTION TO MOVE TO VOTING PROCEDURE: Must be seconded, can

be objected. This motion immediately closes debate on the pending bill,
resolution, or amendment and moves the committee to voting
procedures to approve or disapprove the pending motion. If more than
one motion is pending, it may be specified whether debate is to be closed
on all motions or on only the one immediately pending.

8. MOTION FOR A CAUCUS: Must be seconded and approved by a 3/4ths

majority of the body. Maker of the motion must specify a time for the
caucus, which cannot exceed more than fifteen minutes. Delegates are
permitted to leave their seats during this time in order to discuss
substantive matters of their committees. Delegates will not be permitted
to leave the assigned committee area during a caucus.

In other settings, this is known as an unmoderated caucus.

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9. MOTION TO RECESS: If adopted, a motion to Recess suspends the

meeting of the committee, House, or Senate. A time for resumption of
the meeting must be specified.

Motions to recess are in order when there is no bill or resolution being

debated. They are in order only during the last ten minutes of a
committee's allotted meeting time. The Chair may call a recess at his or
her discretion at anytime.

10. MOTION TO ADJOURN: This motion concludes the session of a

committee or body. It is in order only at the end of the Conference.

IX. Note Passing

1. Delegates are permitted to pass notes to any member of their committee,
including other delegates and the Chair and his Secretariat.
2. All notes are first screened by the Chair before being passed.
3. In order to pass a note, the delegate shall raise his hand with the note in
hand, and a member of the committee’s assigned Congressional staff
shall approach the delegate.
4. All notes must follow the prescribed format
5. Notes shall not be censured in terms of relevance of content, but may
not contain any profane, provocative or non-sensical content. The Chair
shall reserve the right to reject the passing of notes for any reason
he/she deems fit.
6. The Chair may suspend note passing at his/her discretion.

X. Points
1. Guidelines
1. Only those points listed below will be recognized
2. Points are not debatable, they do not require a second, and the Chair's
decision is final (barring any motion to appeal).
3. The order of precedence of the points is shown, in ascending order.
When a point is pending, only points with a higher number, as shown
below, are in order.
4. Points do not automatically take precedence over motions. The Chair
will recognize delegates rising to points, at his or her discretion.
2. Types
1. POINT OF INFORMATION: When the floor is open, a delegate may rise
to ask a question relating to the Committee’s business, excluding
parliamentary issues.

Points of Information are strictly factual questions concerning the main

motion or amendment. They are normally posed after a speaker has
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delivered a speech. Delegates may choose to be open to points of

information if he chooses to yield his remaining time for this purpose.

2. POINT OF PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY: This is a question concerning

the Rules of Procedure. A question may be posed at any time, but cannot
interrupt delegates.

A Point of Parliamentary Inquiry is generally speaking a call for a

clarification of the rules. An example would be: "Can I amend the main
motion now that we are in general debate?"

3. POINT OF ORDER: A delegate may rise to this Point if it is felt that a

violation of the Rules of Procedure has occurred. If the Chair finds this
Point is well-taken, the situation will be quickly resolved. A Point of
Order may be raised at any time.

4. POINT OF PRIVILEGE: A Point of Privilege may be made when the

rights and privileges of a member of PMC have been violated. If the
Point is appropriate, the Chair will undertake corrective measures.
Points of Parliamentary Privilege are commonly called for in only two
situations. First, when a delegate slanders another or grossly
misrepresents his or her position while speaking or due to
physical discomfort.
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Flow of Procedures – Simplified (without flow for subsidiary motions and points)

1. Each committee is led by a Chairperson who facilitates the discussion for the committee. The
committee will start with the Chairperson taking roll call.

2. . Each submitted bill or resolution will be discussed one at a time, and each piece of
legislation is allotted a certain amount of time to be discussed. The Main Submitter will be
called upon to present the draft. Delegates may then yield their time to questions-and-
answers.

3. The Chairperson will move the discussion into structured debate. The Chair shall request for
two delegates to speak for and against the legislation. Each delegate will be allotted time to
answer points of information from other delegates if he or she wishes to do so.

4. The Chairperson will move the discussion into general debate. Delegates will take turns in
making speeches regarding the legislation being discussed by being added to the speaker’s list
and being called upon by the chair. Each delegate will be allotted time to answer points of
information from other delegates if he or she wishes to do so. The delegate will then yield the
floor to the chair or to another delegate.

5. Amendments may be submitted by the delegates. A similar process takes place for just the
amendments — a certain amount of time is allotted to present the amendment, take questions-
and-answers, and for delegates to speak about the amendment.

NOTE: Motions or points may be made between speakers while the floor is opened as indicated
by the Chair.

6. Delegates will vote on the amendments after time has elapsed for discussing each one, and
delegates will vote on the legislation as a whole after time has elapsed on discussing all
amendments to the resolution. Afterward, committee will repeat the process for the next bill
or resolution.
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M otions by Precedenc e S e c o nd D ebatable V ote N ote

Point of Personal Privilege No No Chair Used if something prevents participation (e.g., lack of decorum).
Point of Order No No Chair Used if a delegate believes a rule is being/has been broken.
Point of Parliamentary No No Chair Used to ask a question about how parliamentary procedure
Inquiry is/will be applied to a situation.
Point of Information, No No Chair Used to ask for the speaker’s opinion on the topic of
Follow Up discussion after he or she has yielded to questions.
Motion to Suspend The Rules Yes 1 pro/1 con 2/3rds Used to temporarily change the rules (e.g., to extend another
delegate’s speaking time).
Motion for a Caucus Yes No Majority Used to permit a short period of time to informally discuss the bill
under consideration amongst delegates.
Motion to Amend Yes Yes Majority Used to amend a bill or resolution under consideration.
Amendments should be presented to the chair prior to making
Motion to Lay on the Table Yes No 2/3rds Used to postpone further discussion and any possible vote.
this motion.
Motion to Take from the Yes No Majority Used to revive discussion and the possibility of a vote of any
Table matter laid on the table.
Motion to Divide a Question Yes 1 pro/1 con Majority Used to split the pending question (e.g., a bill) into several
parts to be voted on separately.
Motion to Extend Debate Yes No 2/3rds Used to extend debate time on a motion by a maximum
of 15 minutes.
Motion to Postpone Debate Yes No Majority Used to temporarily postpone debate on a motion, time
must be specified.
Motion to Move to Voting Yes No 2/3rds Used to close debate and vote on a motion.
Procedures
Motion to Recess Yes No Majority Used to pause a session.
Motion to Adjourn Yes No Chair Used to end session, only applicable at the end of the
conference.