SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri yesterday rallied senators to propose legislation that will uplift the lives of the Filipino people and improve the over-all state of the country, not politically-motivated measures aimed at pleasing Malacañang.
In his speech during the Senate’s opening assembly for the Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress, Zubiri said: “In tackling bills, let us bear in mind that these are not the President’s request, but the people’s. Some of these may not be what we want, but they are what the country needs.”
Zubiri banged the gavel a little past 10 a.m. on Monday, with 23 senators present.
Sen. Pia Cayetano was absent during the opening session. Her office said she was still performing her prior commitment to be the head of delegation of the Philippine Women’s National Football Team in its maiden participation at the FIFA Women’s World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Zubiri welcomed his colleagues “in this great arena of democracy where ideas that propel the nation forward are made.”
In urging his colleagues to craft and pass measures based on the needs of the people, the Senate leader said: “We will keep the faith in an independent Senate, but independence comes with the grit to make hard decisions. So, those unpopular but correct (measures), we will defend. The plenary’s mood should not be dictated by any political weathervane.”
“We will scrutinize minutely from morning to midnight as it has been in the past, which we can because we senators are champion multi-taskers,” he said.
He vowed that the Senate “will sail against the wind” if it has to make sure that the laws approved by the chamber are for the sake of the people. “Every measure bound for the President’s desk will pass through our quality control,” he said.
He also said that “to a people scarred by the recent (coronavirus disease or COVID-19) pandemic, never must we be caught flatfooted again” as he underscored the need to pass the bills proposing the creation of the Center for Disease Control, Virology Institute of the Philippines, and the Medical Reserve Corps to ensure that the country is able to timely and properly respond to future pandemics and preserve the health of Filipinos.
Zubiri likewise urged senators to pass a “stronger” Anti-Agricultural Smuggling law “so that the flood of imports will not drown the crops they (farmers) grow.”
He said the Senate should also ease existing “too complicated” tax laws by approving the proposed Ease of Paying Taxes bill, and to rid communities all over the country of garbage by passing the proposed Waste to Energy bill.
“Marami pang batas na kailangan pandayin. Sample lang po ang ating binanggit (We still have a lot of measures to craft. What I mentioned were just examples). We have our plate full, and our calendar filled,” he also said.
Zubiri has earlier committed that the Senate will pass by the end of the year the Marcos administration’s 20 priority measures.
He added the Senate will also be busy with committee and plenary discussions on the proposed 2024 national budget of the Marcos administration.
At the same time, Zubiri cited his colleagues’ hard work even during their seven-week sine die break and thanked the two-person minority bloc for serving as fiscalizers.
“In our Minority Leader Koko Pimentel and Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, we find a vigilant opposition but (who) critique constructively, their inputs resulting in better laws,” he said.
Pimentel thanked Zubiri for recognizing the role of the minority but added: “Eh sabi ko nga gawin nating totoo (I told him, let’s make that true) and never cut the time of the minority when we want to interpellate.”
After Zubiri’s opening address, the senators adopted Senate Resolution No. 681 and 682 informing the House of Representatives and President Marcos Jr., respectively, “that a quorum is present in the Senate and that this body has entered upon the exercise of its functions” for the Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress.
Senators also adopted House Concurrent Resolution No. 15 which provides for the Senate and the House of Representatives “to hold a joint session to hear” the President’s second State of the Nation Address.
They likewise adopted Concurrent Resolution No. 12 that created a joint committee of the Senate and the House “to notify the President of the Philippines that Congress, now convened for its Second Regular Session… is ready to hear his State of the Nation Address in a joint session of both Houses.”
After the opening ceremonies, Zubiri suspended the session until 3 p.m. today.
Zubiri also ordered Senate Secretary Renato Bantug to allow Senate officials and employees to go home at 2 p.m. Monday “so that they may observe the Joint Session of Congress at home,” except for officials and employees who are assigned to assist in the joint session at the Batasang Pambansa, personnel of the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms, and maintenance and general services bureau personnel.
