Leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate on Thursday vowed to forge a harmonious working relationship to guarantee the passage of a common legislative agenda in the remaining 20 months of the 18th Congress.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco met with Senate President Vicente Sotto III, together with key officials of their respective chambers, to discuss how best they could forward priority legislative measures during the second half of the current Congress.
As he emerged from the informal caucus, Velasco declared he is optimistic that a “new era of cooperation” has begun in Congress.
“We look forward to a very good working relationship between the House and the Senate as both chambers strive to ensure the remaining sessions of the 18th Congress will be fruitful and productive,” said Velasco.
The House and Senate leaders met at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City upon the initiative of Velasco, who took over the House leadership two weeks ago.
Also attending the meeting were Senate President Protempore Ralph Recto and Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.
Velasco was joined by House colleagues, Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez; ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Yap, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations; and Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also joined the meeting via videoconferencing.
“We consider the senators as vital partners, allies and friends, and we thank the Senate leadership for this productive meeting,” Velasco said.
The solons swiftly agreed to come up with a common legislative priority targets for the next five months.
President Duterte’s legislative agenda that he mentioned during the recent State of the Nation Address will be listed on top of the priority agenda.
Included in the President’s legislative agenda are the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises or CREATE Act, Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer or FIST Act, Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act, and the bill creating the Department of Overseas Filipinos.
“The President, in his remaining years as our Chief Executive, can rely on Congress to help him fulfill his promises to our people before his term ends,” Velasco said.
“We take seriously his call to put an end to systemic corruption, and we will work together with our fellow lawmakers to come up with legislation to help our overseas Filipino workers, farmers and fisherfolk,” he added.
Velasco said the House also requested the Senate to prioritize the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Workers to support barangay frontliners, as well as the proposed Internet Transactions Act that seeks to protect consumers, especially with the increase in online transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.