Two senior administration lawmakers rejected on Thursday, Nov. 4 the calls made by their Lower House colleagues to lift restrictions on face-to-face presence in plenary proceedings starting Monday, the resumption of regular sessions.

Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Isabela Rep. Antonio “Tonypet” Albano Jr. are leaning toward the side of prudence as they pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging in the country.

Earlier, Deputy Majority Leader Jesus “Bong” Suntay (4th District, Quezon City); Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (Lone District, Tagaytay City) and Mike Defensor (Anakalusugan Partylist) aired the belief that it is now time to allow more lawmakers to participate actively on the floor through their presence in the plenary.

“I am on the side of prudence. The pandemic is still with us,” declared Rodriguez.

He explained: “Enclosed spaces like the plenary hall are danger zones. I suggst to continue the present policy of having a maximum 25 representatives at the plenary hall starting Nov. 8. After all the online sessions (zoom) work. Maybe in the near future, regular personnel attendance may resume,” he said.

On the other hand, Albano stated that he would leave the issue to the “wisdom of the congressional leaders headed by our Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.”

“They should be the ones to determine capacity and rules for the safety of our house members, secretariat, and also our invited guests. We should consider that those who want to attend should show proof of being fully vaccinated, and also to be tested by antigen tests before they can enter the HOR,” said Albano, vice chairman of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.

He added: “When life and death situation are concerned, I always advise on the side of precaution and safety.”

Reacting to claims of House members that they are often ignored or ‘muted’ by the presiding officer whenever they try to raise a point while on zoom conferencing during plenary debates, Rodriguez said he never encountered such experience.

“To address this, the majority leaders and the rules staff should always monitor the zoom for those hitting the ‘raise hand’ button so that the majority leader can move for recognition of the interpellator by the speaker,” said Rodriguez.

Suntay, Defensor and Tolentino believe that all House members are already fully vaccinated by this time and that the danger of COVID-19 infection have been reduced.

Defensor and Tolentino also stressed that the Lower House plenary hall is quite huge to allow enough space to observe social distancing for over 50 percent of the 307 members of the chamber.

“The most important work of legislators are done in the halls of Congress, while the members have not been remiss in their duties and have actively participate din our virtual sessions, it is my opinion that legislators would be able to express their intentions more and communicate better if they are physically present,” Suntay pointed out.