House Deputy Speaker Bacolod City lone district Rep. Albee Benitez has rejected the notion that congressmen have only been preoccupied with impeachment hearings, saying they've also been looking for ways to address the fuel price crisis.

"Impeachment lang ang inisiip nilang ginagawa namin, hindi naman totoo yun (All they think we’re doing is impeachment, but that’s not true)," Benitez told House reporters.

"In fact halos lahat ng mga colleagues ko eh, ang problema nila yun distrito nila. Paano nila ngayon mami-mitigate itong impact sa mga public transport, sa farmers, sa fishery, sa agriculture," reckoned the Visayan bloc leader.

(In fact, almost all of my colleagues are focused on their districts, on how they can mitigate the impact on public transport, on farmers, on fisheries, and on agriculture.)

The House of Representatives, through the Committee on Justice, is currently holding impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

It was only last month when the same committee dismissed impeachment raps against President Marcos due to insufficiency in substance.

In late February, the United States (US) and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, which geographically caused uncertainties in world oil supply. Locally, double-digit price hikes have been imposed on gasoline and diesel for three straight weeks.

Benitez says he is scheduled to meet with House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III on Friday, March 27 to discuss his proposed Bayanihan for Economic Resilience and National Stability Act of 2026.

The Bacolod lawmaker said his aim is to create via legislation a "shock absorber" for Filipinos. He aaid he already has a draft bill.

"Pag nagkakaroon ng shock because of external forces, eh hindi tayo nagkakandarapa maghanap ng gagawin (When shocks come from external forces, we don’t scramble around looking for something to do), All of these must be predetermined, prepared properly, and that's how resilience is created," he said.

"Remember, ang basis natin, resiliency. Eh hindi naman natatayo or nagagawa ang resiliency during crisis. Nagagawa yan before it happens. So dapat mayroon tayong preparation," Benitez noted.

(Remember, our foundation is resiliency. And resiliency isn’t built during a crisis—it’s built before it happens. That’s why we need preparation.)

"Ang inisiip nating bill, that we will have enough preparation in case a crisis happens. We have predetermined beneficiaries--kasi ang nangyayari ngayon, may emergency powers tayo, may emergency powers tayo, may pondo, may ibibigay, pero kanino natin ibibigay?" he asked, to illustrate his point.

(The bill we’re thinking of ensures we have enough preparation in case a crisis occurs. We’ll have predetermined beneficiaries—because right now, even with emergency powers and funds, the question is: who do we give it to?)

Benitez says local government units (LGUs) are currently scrambling to identify who should should receive aid from the transport and agriculture sectors.

Aside from having predetermined beneficiaries, the bill also puts a premium on pre-funding. "Mayroon na tayong pondo na gagamitin sakaling magkakaroon ng mga krisis na katulad ngayon (We would have available funds if ever crises like this happens)."

"I'm proposing na ibalik natin yung oil stabilization fund, na during good times, eh mag-save tayo. During bad times, gastusin natin. So this will be triggered siguro on certain price ng oil," the deputy speaker said.

(I’m proposing we bring back the oil stabilization fund: during good times, we save; during bad times, we spend. This would be triggered once oil prices reach a certain level.)