I. Fundamental Principle: The Rule of Lapse Upon Expiration of Congress

In Philippine legislative practice, all pending bills, joint resolutions, concurrent resolutions, and simple resolutions that have not been enacted into law automatically lapse upon the expiration of a Congress. This is an absolute, non-derogable rule that has been consistently applied since the Commonwealth period and carried through the 1935, 1973, and 1987 Constitutions.

When a new Congress convenes at noon on June 30 following the midterm or general elections (Art. VI, § 15, 1987 Constitution), the legislative slate is wiped clean. No bill, regardless of how far advanced it was in the previous Congress, automatically carries over to the new one. Every measure must be re-filed anew.

This rule is explicitly stated in the Rules of both chambers:

House of Representatives Rules (e.g., Rule XVIII, § 124 of the 19th Congress Rules):
“All bills, resolutions and other measures pending in the House upon the final adjournment of the Congress shall lapse and shall be transmitted to the Archives. They may be taken from the Archives and considered in the succeeding Congress only upon re-filing by any Member.”
Senate Rules (e.g., Rule LII of the 19th Congress Senate Rules):
“All pending legislative measures upon the expiration of a Congress shall lapse.”

The rule applies uniformly regardless of:

Whether the bill has passed third reading in one chamber
Whether it is already in the bicameral conference committee stage
Whether it was certified as urgent by the President
Whether it enjoyed overwhelming support or had already been ratified in a bicameral conference but not yet transmitted to Malacañang

Everything dies at the stroke of noon on June 30 every three years.

II. Distinction Between Sessions and Congress: What Carries Over and What Does Not

A single Congress (e.g., 19th Congress, 2022–2025) has three regular sessions:

First Regular Session (July 2022 – June 2023)
Second Regular Session (July 2023 – June 2024)
Third Regular Session (July 2024 – June 2025)

Within the same Congress, bills carry over from one regular session to the next. A bill that has passed second reading in the Second Regular Session retains that status when the Third Regular Session opens. This is why long, contentious bills (e.g., SOGIE Equality Bill, Anti-Political Dynasty Bill) can remain alive for almost three years.

But once the Third Regular Session adjourns sine die (usually in early June before elections), and the new Congress convenes on June 30, everything lapses irrevocably.

III. Practical Consequences of the Lapse Rule

Bills passed by one house but pending in the other
Example: A bill passes the House on third reading in May 2025 and is transmitted to the Senate. If the Senate does not act on it before sine die adjournment, the bill dies even though the House already approved it. It must be re-filed in the 20th Congress.
Bills already in bicameral conference committee
Even if the conferees have already initialed the bicameral report and only ratification by both chambers is needed, the bill still lapses if ratification is not completed before the end of Congress. This happened to the Bangsamoro Basic Law in the 17th Congress (it reached bicameral stage but was not ratified in time) and had to be re-filed in the 18th Congress.
Bills certified as urgent by the President
Presidential certification under Art. VI, § 26(2) only dispenses with the three-reading rule on separate days and the printing requirement. It does not exempt a bill from the lapse rule. The SIM Card Registration Act (RA 11934) was certified urgent in the 19th Congress and became law precisely because it completed the entire process before adjournment.
Enrolled bills awaiting presidential action
If both houses have ratified the bicameral report and the enrolled bill has been transmitted to the President before sine die adjournment, the bill survives and can still be signed or vetoed even after the new Congress convenes. The 10-day period for presidential action (Art. VI, § 27) continues to run.

IV. Re-filing in the New Congress: Procedure and Practice

When a bill lapses, it is transmitted to the Legislative Archives of the respective chamber.

In the new Congress, any member may re-file it in any of these ways:

By reproduction – The full text is re-filed verbatim or with amendments. It receives a new bill number (House bills restart from HB 00001, Senate from SBN 1).
By reference to the old bill number – Common courtesy practice when the principal author is re-elected. Example: “A bill identical to House Bill No. 1234 of the 19th Congress…”
Adoption as a committee bill – The committee itself may adopt the lapsed bill and file it as a committee measure, giving it priority in calendaring.

The new bill must again go through the full legislative mill: first reading, committee referral, second reading (period of interpellation and amendments), third reading, then transmission to the other chamber.

V. Historical Examples of Major Bills That Died Due to Lapse

Freedom of Information Bill – Passed the Senate in the 15th, 16th, and 17th Congresses but always died in the House at the end of each Congress. Finally enacted only in the 17th Congress? Wait — actually never enacted as of 2025; still pending refiling in successive Congresses.
Anti-Political Dynasty Bill – Required by Art. II, § 26 of the Constitution, has been filed in every Congress since 1987 and has never passed even second reading in either chamber.
Bangsamoro Basic Law (2018) – Reached bicameral conference in the 17th Congress but not ratified in time; re-filed and finally enacted as RA 11054 in the 18th Congress.
Divorce Bill – Regularly passes committee in the House but dies at plenary or upon lapse of Congress.
SIM Card Registration Bill – Died in the 18th Congress despite passing both houses in different versions; re-filed and enacted in the 19th Congress.

VI. Rationale Behind the Strict Lapse Rule

The rule reflects the constitutional principle that each Congress is a distinct legislative body with its own mandate from the electorate. Half of the Senate and the entire House membership change every three years. Allowing automatic carry-over would bind the new legislature to the unfinished agenda of its predecessor — a violation of democratic accountability.

The Supreme Court has never directly ruled on the validity of the lapse rule, but it has consistently recognized the plenary power of each chamber over its internal rules (Osmeña v. Pendatun, 109 Phil. 863 [1960]; Arroyo v. De Venecia, G.R. No. 127255, 1997).

VII. No Exceptions Exist — Not Even for “National Emergency” or “Certified” Bills

There is no constitutional or statutory provision that allows carry-over of bills to the next Congress, even in cases of martial law, national emergency, or presidential certification. Attempts to insert carry-over provisions in the rules of either chamber have always been rejected.

The only measures that survive beyond a Congress are:

Laws already enacted and signed (or lapsed into law)
Enrolled bills already transmitted to the President
Treaty ratifications (because treaties are ratified by the Senate sitting as a continuing body)

VIII. Conclusion

The Philippine congressional system deliberately imposes a three-year deadline on legislative productivity. The lapse-upon-new-Congress rule is harsh, absolute, and uncompromising. It forces legislators to prioritize, negotiate, and compromise within the narrow window of a single Congress. Bills that fail to cross the finish line before noon of June 30 every three years are legislatively dead and must be resurrected through the laborious process of re-filing — a process that starts the entire gauntlet anew.

This is not a bug in the system; it is one of its defining, if unforgiving, features.