House vows to fast-track SONA priority measures

MANILA, Philippines — Leaders of the House of Representatives vowed yesterday to speed up the approval of legislative measures President Duterte enumerated in his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We will work double-time to act on the President’s priority bills, especially those aimed at improving the lives of our people. I assure the country’s economic managers that Congress will align its legislative agenda with President Duterte’s priority economic bills, which aim to cut poverty almost by half in 2022,” Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said.

The House under the leadership of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, he added, “will work on long-term solutions aimed at addressing the nation’s ills like poverty, illegal drugs, peace and order concerns, lack of infrastructure and corruption.”

For Romualdez, the President’s fourth SONA on Monday focused on “his renewed commitment to good governance and intensified campaign against corruption.”

Rep. Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman, who heads the 54-member party-list coalition, said Duterte impressed upon lawmakers that the anti-corruption campaign “is no longer the concern of government alone.” 

“By enjoining the public to rebel against corrupt officials and graft-ridden agencies, President Duterte underscored the importance of our people’s cooperation in cleansing the bureaucracy,” he pointed out.

He said legislators should respond to the presidential appeal “by giving concerned Filipinos ample protection against all possible backlash in their effort to contribute to the anti-corruption drive.”  

“Passage of legislative measures that would fast-track resolution of pending graft cases without sacrificing fairness and due process is imperative. Other bills that will contribute to the President’s good governance objective deserve to be on top of the legislative priorities of Congress,” he added.

House Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte expressed confidence that “the House would be able to hit the ground running and act in timely fashion on the priority measures that President Duterte wants done.”

For his part, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco suggested that the President convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, which Duterte chairs, so the two branches of government could agree on a common legislative agenda (CLA).

“There must be an agreement among the executive, the Senate and the House of Representatives on which bills in the CLA will be prioritized so these can be enacted into laws at the soonest possible time,” Velasco said.

He added that he has already filed proposed laws that “aim to support the President’s vision,” including those that seek to postpone the barangay elections from May 2020 to October 2022 and rightsizing the bureaucracy.

“As an advocate of renewable energy and energy efficiency, I am one with the President in urging the Department of Energy to fast-track projects involving renewable energy sources,” Velasco also said.

For his part, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, who shifted his support to Cayetano from Romualdez when the President endorsed the latter as majority leader, grouped the SONA measures into six general subjects: social order (five bills), political (two bills), new agencies (five proposals), fiscal reforms (three bills), government efficiency (seven measures) and rural development (four bills).

The fiscal reform measures include the proposed law that would increase excise taxes on beer and other alcohol products, which the House in the last Congress approved and which the Senate sat on.

There are other Duterte priority bills congressmen passed in the 17th Congress but which the Senate blocked. Among these is the bill seeking to re-impose the death penalty, which the House approved in the early part of the two-year tenure of former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, whom administration allies ousted in July 2018 and replaced with then Pampanga congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and other administration allies in the Senate opposed the death penalty bill.

Rep. Eddie Villanueva of party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC), who was named deputy speaker for good governance and moral transformation, also promised “to do our best to help this institution not only to be an effective catalyst but a lead player in commencing moral transformation in our country, which we sincerely believe is a necessary requirement for us to experience genuine progress.” 

Rep. Marlyn Naguiat of Biñan City in Laguna said, “I hope the bills meant to overhaul or replace antiquated laws on public services, public works, economy and administration of justice get urgent treatment.”

Critical collaborators

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, the new leader of the House minority bloc, vowed to provide only critical collaboration with the Duterte administration and to “not, in any way, be a destructive tool in criticizing government policies.” 

“We are not here to oppose only because we want to oppose. We don’t want to be destructive. We would like to support the President in his objective for the Filipino people,” Abante told his colleagues. 

A born-again pastor by profession, the returning congressman called on his 27 other colleagues to be more objective and be critical collaborators with the national government. He is with the Metropolitan Manila Bible Baptist church. 

“Let the glass be the one to tell them what is wrong with us. I hope none of us here would have personal agenda. All of us are representatives of the people and that our advocacy is for the Filipino people and for the progress of our country,” Abante said. 

He will be joined by six of the 17 Liberal Party members – Reps. Kit Belmonte (Quezon City), Janette Garin (Iloilo), Jocelyn Limkaichong (Negros Oriental), Stella Quimbo (Marikina), Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur) and Isagani Amatong (Zamboanga del Norte). 

Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay, also an LP, decided to be independent opposition lawmaker.  

The 10 other LPs joined the House majority coalition. They are Reps. Edgar Erice (Caloocan), Josephine Ramirez-Sato (Occidental Mindoro), Emmanuel Billones (Capiz), Francis Gerald Abaya (Cavite), Mujiv Hataman (Basilan), Romulo Peña (Makati), Raul del Mar (Cebu), Paul Daza (Northern Samar), Alfonso Umali Jr. (Oriental Mindoro) and Edgar Sarmiento (Samar). 

Abante, a former congressman from 2004 to 2010, refuted claims that their group will only be a management union. “We will not be a company union. I can assure you that. In fact before, there were times that I argued with our President in our talks.”  

At the same time, the lawmaker expressed disagreement with Duterte’s belief or non-belief of God, but nevertheless pointed out that the Chief Executive has all the right under the 1987 Constitution to exercise his freedom of expression.  

“I told myself the President is the President, I think it would be better for him to be more adept with political policies than try to argue with religion, but I guess he has freedom to do it,” Abante said. – With Delon Porcalla