Work awaits incoming Senate president

The table of incoming Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. is already loaded with work even before he assumes the Senate helm.

Local executives have challenged Villar to prove that the chamber will no longer be held hostage by the opposition on his watch by moving ahead on bold initiatives to break the Senate-House stalemate on both the 2006 budget and the constituent assembly (ConAss) proposal when Congress resumes session next month.

The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said Villar would do well to steer the Senate clear of its recurring, counterproductive standoffs with Malacañang and the House of Representatives and towards the path of constructive collaborationleading to the long overdue passage of the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2006, which includes some P40 billion in local development funds earlier slashed from the budget by senators.

ULAP secretary general and Mandaue City Councilor Carlo Fortuna said it is imperative for the incoming Senate president to demonstrate that the chamber can finally transcend partisan politics "and is no longer being held hostage by the minority bloc."

If Villar fails to break the festering Senate-House deadlock, Fortuna said, such failure will "cement the popular thinking that the only way out is the abolition of both the Senate and the House in favor of a unicameral parliament."

Fortuna, who is also the president of Philippine Councilors League (PCL), said ULAP is banking on Villar to pursue this paradigm shift on his watch, considering that he is one of the early favorites to emerge as prime minister once the shift to a unicameral parliamentary government is set in motion either through constitutional assembly or the people’s initiative mode.

"Villar’s leadership would be put to the test once he assumes the Senate presidency when Congress resumes session late next month," Fortuna said.

"Instead of being held hostage by the opposition in the chamber, Villar should prove that he deserves to be the new Senate president and future prime minister" by pursuing bold and inventive steps to break the deadlock on the 2006 GAA.

"For the Senate to justify its relevance, it has to restore the people-friendly 2006 outlays that are now in jeopardy, including the P40 billion in local development projects and the P15-billion incremental increase in this year’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of local government units (LGUs)," Fortuna said. — Cecille Suerte Felipe