A new Philippine president. A new plenary hall. A new House Speaker.
The House of Representatives will have the imagery of a new beginning--a clean slate of sorts--going for it when it finally starts the first regular session of the 19th Congress on Monday, July 25.
At 10 a.m., the 300-strong lower chamber will convene at the plenary hall for the purpose of electing the next House Speaker--a position that is believed to be etched on the palm of Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.
Presiding over the session will be the "old" House secretary general in Mark Llandro Mendoza. He was installed in his position by then-Speaker Lord Allan Velasco of the lone district of Marinduque during the previous 18th Congress.
The Velasco speakership ended last June 2 following the sine die adjournment of the House. Since then, Mendoza has been the top official in the chamber.
He was the one who oversaw the final stages of the P100-million renovation of Batasang Pambansa Complex, home of the House of Representatives. Much of the cost went to sprucing up the House plenary hall located in the main building of Batasang Pambansa.
The new-look plenary hall now has an "elevated" main flooring that's akin to the Banaue Rice Terraces, a new video and sound system, and health safeguards like an “ultraviolet germicidal irradiation system”.
Mendoza's opening of the session will be among his last significant acts as secretary general, since the new speaker will have the prerogative to choose a new secretary general.
After the House members elect their new speaker, the composition of the majority and minority blocs in the chamber will become clear.
Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman has also guaranteed that a third bloc--the "authentic and independent" minority--will rise anew in the 19th Congress.
At 4 p.m., the House members will be joined by the 24 senators of the republic at the same plenary hall to witness the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Marcos won a historic majority mandate during the May 2022 polls to the tune of 31 million votes.
He succeeded former President Rodrigo Duterte, whose daughter, Sara, is the current vice president.
Among the talking points that Marcos is expected to raise in his SONA are his solutions to the problems of poverty, high national debt, inflation, the food supply crisis, and recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.