THE House of Representatives will resume sessions on Monday with Bayanihan 3, economic Charter change and impeachment as its top priorities.
House Committee on People’s Participation Chairperson and San Jose Del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes pushed for the prioritization of passage of the P405.6-billion Bayanihan 3 when lawmakers get back to work.
According to Robes, so much more must be done to help displaced workers and companies that shut down as a result of the pandemic, especially with the continuous contraction of the economy.
“We have yet to recover. In the meantime, unemployment is up, the economy is down. We are in recession. The Bayanihan 3 filed by our Speaker Lord Allan Velasco will provide much needed assistance to our fellow Filipinos still in need of help at this time,” Robes said.
With this, Robes filed House Resolution 1718 to express the full solidarity of the House of Representatives for passage of said bill.
Congress will resume sessions starting Monday, May 17, and is expected to adjourn sine die on June 5 to July 25. It will resume session on July 26 for the last State of the Nation Address of President Duterte.
“There is a need to respond to the continuing challenges brought on by the pandemic especially since there are pervading difficulties in the procurement of vaccines for Covid-19 that prevent the country from carrying a full vaccination program for at least 75 percent of the population to achieve herd immunity,” Robes said.
For his part, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said, “we need Bayanihan 3 to help ensure that the economy recovers quickly from the coronavirus disease-19-induced crisis in a strong, sustainable, and resilient manner.”
“We only have three weeks to pass this vital measure that will help our fellow Filipinos who are all affected by the pandemic, and we are confident that before we adjourn, we will be able to pass the measure,” added Romualdez.
The House Committees on Social Services, Economic Affairs, and Ways and Means have already approved the Bayanihan to Arise As One Act or Bayanihan 3, but it still has to go through the Committee on Appropriations.
Charter change
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, meanwhile, said the lower chamber will resume its plenary discussion on his Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 (RBH 2) or the economic Charter change.
“Hopefully, we will be able to pass Cha-cha in 18th Congress. The 30-year-old Constitution is outdated and I think it’s high time that we change it,” he said.
“We’re hoping to finish the [Cha-cha] in three weeks and pass it in the plenary and forward it to the Senate” he said.
Velasco said he hopes to get the support of the Senate for the smooth passage of Cha-cha but “to be honest, I don’t think that can be considered rushed.”
Earlier, Committee on Constitutional Amendments chairman and Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. said the House will approve on third and final reading the economic Cha-cha before its sine die adjournment in June.
Garbin said the target date of approval of the RBH 2 is possible as there are only seven remaining interpellators.
According to Garbin, the measure provides Congress the flexibility to enact legislation to appropriately respond to the needs of current economic and technological conditions.
Garbin also noted that the proposed Charter change would only be adopted once the Filipino people vote in favor of it in a plebiscite.
Waste of effort, time
However, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said lawmakers’ energy should be better spent on assisting the national government in defeating Covid-19 and revitalizing the economy amid a global infection surge than prioritizing Charter change.
Instead of focusing on Cha-cha, Villafuerte said the House should work on, among others, making sure that Filipino families get P10,000 each in one installment under the proposed third Bayanihan law, to let vulnerable families cope with the economic shock of Covid-19 and, in turn, boost household spending nationwide.
“We should now start our stimulus program from the ground up. The Congress has already passed several stimulus measures through the Republic Act (RA) No. 11465 or Bayanihan 2 and other laws for both small and big businesses. We should pour financial resources this time with helping Filipino families rebuild their pandemic-hit lives instead of wasting our time with reviving this unproductive Cha-cha exercise,” Villafuerte said.
Impeachment
House Majority Leader Romualdez on Sunday vowed to include in the order of business for referral to the House Committee on Justice the impeachment complaint against Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Mario Victor F. Leonen within three session days.
Romualdez, chairman of the House Committee on Rules, said the referral of the impeachment complaint against Leonen will be discussed by his committee.
“Last March 25, Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco transmitted the impeachment complaint filed by Mr. Edwin M. Cordevilla and endorsed by Ilocos Sur 2nd District Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba to our committee. We will act on it and include it in the order of business,” Romualdez said.
Velasco, meanwhile, assured the public of a fair resolution of the impeachment complaint.
“Definitely with House Committee on Justice Chairman Vicente Veloso III at the helm, we’re certain that there will be a fair trial regarding that impeachment complaint,” he added.