The House of Representatives on Tuesday decided to suspend regular sessions until August 17 after following the death of Senior Citizens Party-list Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. from complications caused by COVID-19.
Datol became the 41st COVID-19 victim in the Lower House. He died Monday.
Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said the leadership’s decision to suspend regular sessions was in response to a clamor among House employees who noted the recent upsurge of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila.
The session break will give ample time for a thorough disinfection of all offices and facilities in the House of Representatives and give employees a brief respite from the aggravation caused by the spike in COVID cases, Romualdez said in a press statement.
He explained that the break would also enable the various committees of the House of Representatives to fast-track the reporting out of all COVID-related measures for plenary consideration when session resumes.
Datol’s colleagues noted that the 71-year-old party-list lawmaker had been among the lawmakers who physically participate in various legislative activities in the chamber.
He became the fifth House member infected with the COVID-19. The others were Deputy Speakers Johnny Pimentel and Mujiv Hataman, Reps. Samier Tan and Henry Villarica.
Meanwhile, Rodolfo Ordanes, who was named second nominee of the Senior Citizens Partylist during the 2019 elections, on Thursday said he will replace Datol as the group’s representative to the Lower House.
However, the Commission on Elections has disclosed that records indicate that a certain Aurora Garcia Mojica is the second nominee.