Senate refreshes priorities, places Cha-cha 'on the backburner'
MANILA, Philippines (First update: 11:42 a.m.) — For his first opening session as senate president, Francis Escudero stressed the independence of the Senate and urged his colleagues to set aside pieces of legislation that "divide the public."
Charter change would be among those to be placed at the bottom of the list, Escudero declared at the opening session of Congress on Monday.
“Pending bills on Charter change will be placed in the back-burner and will follow the ordinary and regular process of legislation, if at all. In its stead, bills which can affect the same result, but without the needless political noise and bickering, will be prioritized,” Escudero said.
He also cited sentiments of former president Manuel Quezon, who said the Senate must prioritize the quality of the legislation rather than the number of bills passed.
The Senate had clashed with the House of Representatives when it came to the people’s initiative for Charter change. In January, all senators slammed the lower chamber for charter change. Should the House’s charter change efforts have succeeded, both chambers would be allowed to jointly vote to amend the 1987 Constitution. The House, boasting of at least 200 lawmakers, would easily outvote the 24 senators.
For Escudero, while it is the House's role to gauge public sentiment, it was the Senate’s job to nuance this in 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.
The new senate president said that they will ask three basic questions when it came to prioritizing bills:
- Will it make the lives of Filipinos easier?
- Will it help us move faster?
- Will it make the people’s burdens lighter?
“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,” Escudero said.
Top of the list
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.
The divorce and death penalty bills, meanwhile, are not considered "controversial," he argued. While they are not tagged as priorities, these will also be heard and debated. “It will just have to go through the test of the legislative process and mill,” Escudero said.
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