The Congress of the Philippines is a continuing body only for purposes of its existence as an institution, but it is emphatically not a continuing legislative body with respect to pending bills. When a new Congress convenes, all pending legislative measures that have not been enacted into law automatically lapse. This rule is absolute, long-standing, and consistently applied in Philippine parliamentary practice.

Constitutional and Rule-Based Foundation

The 1987 Constitution is silent on the specific question of whether bills carry over from one Congress to the next. The silence, however, has been uniformly interpreted by both chambers as meaning there is no automatic carry-over.

The Rules of the House of Representatives (Rule XIX, Sec. 113 of the 19th Congress Rules, and its equivalent in previous Congresses) explicitly provide:

“All pending legislative business of the House shall lapse upon the expiration of the term of Congress.”

The Senate Rules contain an identical or substantially similar provision (Rule L, Sec. 135 in the 19th Congress Rules):

“Upon the expiration of a Congress, all unfinished business shall lapse.”

These internal rules are adopted pursuant to Article VI, Section 16(5) of the Constitution, which grants each House plenary authority to determine its own rules of proceedings. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the binding character of congressional rules on legislative procedure (e.g., Arroyo v. De Venecia, G.R. No. 127255, 1997; Tolentino v. Secretary of Finance, 1994).

Thus, the lapse of bills is not merely customary; it is a binding rule of procedure with constitutional footing.

What Exactly Lapses

All bills, joint resolutions, and concurrent resolutions that have not completed the entire legislative process (i.e., passed both houses in identical form and presented to the President) automatically die upon the final adjournment sine die of the last regular session of the outgoing Congress.
This includes:
- Bills still in committee in either chamber
- Bills approved on third reading in one chamber but not yet transmitted to or acted upon by the other chamber
- Bills already approved by both chambers but vetoed by the President without the veto having been overridden before adjournment
- Bills in bicameral conference committee that failed to produce a reconciled version before sine die adjournment
Even bills that have reached advanced stages (e.g., passed the House on third reading and pending in the Senate) lapse completely. There is no “partial survival” doctrine.

What Does Not Lapse

Laws already enacted and signed by the President (or enacted via veto override or lapse) obviously survive.
Treaties concurred in by the Senate remain valid even if concurrence was given in a previous Congress.
Impeachment proceedings initiated but not concluded lapse, because the Constitution (Art. XI, Sec. 3(4)) limits the House to one impeachment proceeding per year, and the Senate trial is tied to that initiation.
The General Appropriations Bill, if not enacted by the end of the fiscal year (not the Congress), triggers automatic reenactment of the previous year’s GAA under Article VI, Section 25(7). This is a fiscal year mechanism, not a congressional term mechanism.

Effect of the Lapse Rule in Practice

When the new Congress convenes (usually late July following the May elections), the legislative slate is clean. Bill numbering restarts:

House Bills begin again at HB 00001
Senate Bills begin again at SBN 00001

Committees start with zero pending measures. Committee reports from the previous Congress have no formal force, although chairpersons often “adopt” previous reports informally to expedite hearings.

Legislators who wish to continue pursuit of a lapsed measure must refile it in toto. The new bill receives a new number, is referred anew to committee, and must go through the entire three-reading process again in both chambers.

Historical Consistency of the Rule

The non-carry-over rule has been observed without exception since the Commonwealth period:

The 1935 Constitution Congresses followed the same practice.
The 1973 parliamentary system under Marcos temporarily altered many rules, but the 1987 Constitution restored bicameralism and the traditional lapse rule.
High-profile examples:
- The Freedom of Information bill was filed in every Congress from the 12th (2001–2004) until finally enacted in the 17th Congress (2016).
- The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (RA 11479) was a refiled version of bills that had lapsed in previous Congresses.
- The Bangsamoro Organic Law (RA 11054) was refiled multiple times after lapsing in the 15th and 16th Congresses.

No Congress has ever adopted a rule allowing automatic carry-over of bills, even on a limited basis. Attempts to insert “carry-over” provisions in the rules (e.g., during the 15th and 18th Congress rules revision debates) have consistently failed.

Rationale Behind the Rule

Political turnover – One-third of the House membership is new every three years (100% turnover every three years for representatives, 50% for senators). New members are entitled to a fresh legislative agenda.
Clean docket – Prevents accumulation of thousands of obsolete or duplicative measures.
Deliberative purity – Forces renewed scrutiny of every proposal under the current political configuration.
Accountability – Prevents “zombie bills” from being passed without the current membership having fully debated them.

Comparison with the United States Congress

The Philippine rule is identical to that of the United States Congress. In the U.S., bills also die at the end of each two-year Congress and must be reintroduced. The only difference is frequency: U.S. bills lapse every two years; Philippine bills lapse every three years.

Conclusion

In Philippine legislative practice, the convening of a new Congress is a hard reset for pending legislation. No bill, regardless of how far it has advanced or how broadly supported it was in the previous Congress, survives into the new one unless it has already become law. This rule is absolute, constitutionally grounded in each chamber’s rulemaking power, and has been applied without exception for nearly nine decades. Legislators who wish to enact a measure that died with the previous Congress have one option and one option only: refile it and start the entire process again.