A Senate without fiscalizers loses its potency and forfeits its credentials as a democratic body, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday, July 24, said.
Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri delivers his speech at the opening of the Senate's Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress on Monday, July 24, 2023. (Senate PRIB Photo)

In his opening address at the Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress today, July 24 Zubiri said that the vigilant two-man Senate minority group -  Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros - do  not obstruct but critique constructively, their inputs resulting in better laws.  "We will respect the collegial nature of our institution. We will seek consensus and compromise, whenever possible, or divide the house, if needed," Zubiri stressed in his opening speech during the opening of the Senate's Second Regular Session.  We will debate, because a legislature which no longer does, ceases to be the country’s highest deliberative body,’’ he added. Zubiri emphasized that the Senate remains a safe civic space where anyone could come to market his or her views. "And the person, the floor umpire and consensus builder, who traffics these bills and resolutions in one seamless assembly line, shepherding them from committee to plenary, is our Majority Leader Joel Villanueva,’’ he added. "Today, we open the regular session the way it has been set by tradition and by the Constitution: By listening to the President assess the nation, and account himself,’’ he said. "This reckoning should give us bearings on where we are now, and where we should be heading; of work done, and promises yet to be redeemed,’’ he pointed out. Senators are scheduled to leave the Senate for the Batasang Pambansa early in the afternoon to hear President Ferdinand "Bongbong’’ R. Marcos Jr. deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA). Zubiri said the President’s take on things may differ with senators: "His can be rosy. Ours can be restrained. Or in certain issues, we may be upbeat as he will be subdued." "But we do agree on the most important point: That the Senate has a  major role to play in conquering the challenges before us,’’ he pointed out. Zubiri also said: ’’As expected, the President will use the pulpit this afternoon to dare us to act on his wish list. And like the men and women who sat in this chamber before us, let us respond in true Senate fashion.’’  "We will improve the bills before we approve them. We will purge the bad provisions and replace them with the good. But the Senate is a not mere processor of policies originating from the other branch," the Senate leader stressed. "We also nurture our own, whether bills with far-reaching effects that overhaul systems to help people burdened by rules that are too old or too many, or bills that bring fast-acting relief to those who are in distress – victims of disasters, for example – the number of which is growing," he pointed out.  In tackling bills, Zubiri urged his colleagues to remember "that these are not the President’s request, but the people’s." "Some of these may not be what we want, but they are what the country needs," he pointed out. Sought for comment, Pimentel said he hopes that the majority bloc will then give the minority bloc their time to interpellate especially on matters that need to be threshed out on the floor. "We would like to thank the Senate President for recognizing and putting value to the role of the minority as fiscalizers," Pimentel said in a press briefing after the Senate opening. "Eh sinabi ko nga sa kanya eh, gawin nating totoo yung sinabi mo at (So I told him, then let's make that true) and never cut the time of the minority when we want to interpellate. You never cut the time of the minority," Pimentel stressed. Hontiveros, likewise, said the Senate minority will continue to take full advantage of the space the Upper Chamber will accord them. "I would say mabunga po ang aming pagtatrabaho (our work was fruitful) in terms for example of a minority report on the first sugar fiasco committee report," "So I would say that the minority (bloc) had achievements and we will not stop and instead continue fiscalizing, continue the check and balance," she pointed out. Meanwhile, Zubiri, in his speech, reminded that the Senate will "have its plate full, their calendar filled." On top of these bills, is the proposed 2024 national budget, which the Senate, he said, will scrutinize minutely. "Every measure bound for the President’s desk will pass through our quality control. Not a single bill will be enrolled unless it is fundable, and shovel- or rollout-ready," the Senate leader added. "We will keep the faith in an independent Senate—but with independence comes the grit to make hard decisions," he stressed.