House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The vast majority of congressional staff secretariat members are against the proposal to transfer the offices of the House of Representatives from Batasan in Quezon City to Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City. 

Such was indicated by the results of a recent survey carried out on the House employees. 

The results showed that out of the 1,698 people who took the survey, a whopping 1,481 or 88 percent rejected the relocation plan. 

The 12 percent that favored the proposal was composed of 208 House employees. 

Of those that took the survey, 516 were congressional staff while 1,182 were part of the secretariat. Secretariat employees have a direct hand in the work of the 300-plus congressmen who currently hold their offices at Batasan. 

The survey results were presented Monday afternoon, Jan. 22 during a hearing of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Proposed Relocation of the House of Representatives Complex. 

Among the proponents' main reasons for pursuing the House's transfer to the high-end location is to foster closer coordination with the Senate, which is about relocate to BGC. 

'Strong reservations' 

Earlier, Congressional Staff Association (Consa) President Vincent Borneo wrote ad hoc panel chairman Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte to express the group's "strong reservations to the proposal to relocate offices of the House of Representatives to a new site". 

"The Senate is relocating its offices to a new building, now nearing completion, in the Bonifacio Global City (BGC). There is a proposal to relocate offices of the House to the same area or a nearby location. It must be noted, however, that the Senate decided to construct a new building in BGC because, since 1997, it has been renting office space at the GSIS Building in Pasay City. This is not the case for the House," Borneo wrote in the letter dated Dec. 11, 2023.

"The House and Senate holding office in the same building or within close proximity does not address gridlock – whether in traffic or legislative work. It is the nature of a bicameral legislature that the two chambers, regardless of distance, will perform their functions separately and independently, except in cases where joint voting and/or joint session is required," he said. 

Borneo also said that it had been proven during the pandemic that the necessary laws could be legislated by Congress via telecommunication technology platforms. 

And then there's the question of cost, he said. "The cost of construction of the new Senate building in BGC is reportedly P8.6 billion. In the case of the much bigger House, that amount will not be enough." 

There are only 24 senators.