There will be fewer vetoed bills by Malacañang in the 19th Congress, Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe confidently declared.
The reason? The communication and coordination between President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri will be too good.
Dalipe, during the Ugnayan sa Batasan new forum on Tuesday, Aug. 16 said it was a "welcome development" for him that both Romualdez and Zubiri became the leaders of their respective legislative chambers.
Romualdez and Zubiri, he said, bonded over the summer during the election campaign of the Marcos-led UniTeam.
"It was a welcome development considering that the relationship of Speaker Martin Romualdez and Migz Zubiri, siguro ilang buwan silang magkasama noong campaign. So yung ugnayan, yung coordination nandun na (I think they were together on the road for a few months during the campaign. So the coordination is already there)," he said.
"Ako ang first impression ko, mas maganda to. Plus coordination, of course, UniTeam, nandito yung Presidente, si President Bongbong Marcos. So mababawasan talaga yung mga veto (My first impression was, this is a better set-up. Add to this the UniTeam, the coordination from the President, President Bongbong Marcos. So there will be less vetoed bills)," Dalipe noted.
A bill is vetoed if a President rejects to enact it, despite it already having passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.
"Ayaw ng mga bills na nave-veto, nasasayang yung oras namin, nasasayang yung resources ng gobyerno sa paggawa ng mga batas tapos nave-veto (We don't like bills that get vetoed, it's a waste of our time, it's a waste of government resources to craft laws if it ends in a veto)," he pointed out.
"So with this leadership now, the leadership of the Senate under Senator Migz Zubiri; Speaker of the House, Martin Romualdez; plus yung ating Presidente, mahal na Pangulo, President Bongbong Marcos, tingin ko mas maganda to (plus our President, our beloved President, President Bongbong Marcos, I think this is a better set-up)," Dalipe further said.
"We will be able to achieve more, and achieve more for that legislative-executive agenda," he said.
Marcos, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, enumerated 19 measures that he wants the legislature to pursue.
Marcos and Romualdez are cousins.