FAR from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s call for a collective action, leaders of the two equal legislative chambers delivered messages indicative of a divided Congress.
In his opening remarks marking the opening the third and final segment of the 19th Congress, House Speaker Martin Romualdez took a swipe at the Senate’s failure to act on crucial bills which they already have approved, even as he assured the President of the lower chamber’s full legislative support of the administration’s programs and projects.
This comes as Romualdez boasted of their 100% approval of all 17 legislative measures endorsed by the President in his previous State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“We have done our homework. We addressed concerns on food security, climate change, social protection, tourism, public health, public order, and safety, among others,” Romualdez averred.
“In fact, the fruits of our overarching development agenda initiatives for the past two years are now slowly being felt across the nation,” he continued.
“Out of the 17 priority measures identified by the president in his 2023 SONA, five have been enacted into laws, one bicam (bicameral) report ratified and presently under enrolment process; another one under deliberation in the bicameral conference committee; and ten (10) remaining measures have been approved on third and final reading by the House, with one as early as November 2022.”
“This amounts to a 100% approval on third and final reading by this August chamber of the 2023 SONA priorities,” he further said.
“From the opening of the first regular session on July 25, 2022 to this date, the HOR has attended to a total of 12,405 legislative measures consisting of 10,565 House bills, 1,839 resolutions and one petition.”
At the upper chamber, Senate President Fracis Escudero delivered a message belittling Romualdez’s 100% approval of the administration-sponsored legislative measure.
According to Escudero, the Senate need not be a duplication of the House of Representatives even as he noted that the lower chamber can play its role to gauge public sentiment.
He however reminded Romualdez that it is the Senate’s job to nuance legislation.
“We will tackle items in the common legislative agenda, forged with the Executive and those nurtured by both the House and the Senate, for legislation is not a one-way process,” Escudero said.
While measures have been taken to ease business dealings in the Philippines, Escudero said there could be more effort to ease the lives of regular Filipinos.
“For me, the foremost task of senators is to be the chief common sense officers of the government. For common sense, for me is what would bring ease to the lives of our countrymen,” he chided.
The national budget and maritime rights will rank high on the Senate’s agenda as it opened ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s third State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 22.
Specifically, the Maritime Zone and Sea Lanes Act will “strengthen our claims over what is ours,” Escudero said at a subsequent press conference as the session was suspended. “We will strengthen our military, not to ignite any conflict.”
Another bill that the Senate will prioritize is the upcoming national budget, Escudero said.
Interestingly, Escudero noted that Charter Change and divorce would be the least of their priorities despite the passage of counterpart bills in the Romualdez-controlled chamber.
“The senate will act on measures with serene, mature and prudent judgment. We should never put the interests of the party before the interests of the community. We must aspire to be the guardians of the good faith of the Filipino people towards other peoples, for which we are obliged to preserve it intact.”
To cap his message, Escudero committed to produce quality bills that would help the administration implement high-impact programs for the grassroots while addressing other equally important social concerns. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
