The Senate is gearing up for a busy and heavier workload in the next few months, as it resumes regular sessions on Monday, May 4 after a month-long recess.

Senators are getting ready for the passage of priority measures, endorsed by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) even while the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte looms in the horizon.

In a recent interview, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said the Upper Chamber is ready to tackle the impeachment complaint against Duterte once the House of Representatives submits the Articles of Impeachment to them this week.

“We will act on it with dispatch…Definitely, forthwith,” Sotto had said, as he disclosed the possible timeline of the Upper Chamber for the trial, while simultaneously working with its legislative agenda.

According to Sotto, once the Articles are received, he will immediately inform the plenary and refer the matter to the Committee on Rules for appropriate action, including setting the timetable and the initial procedures for the impeachment trial.

The Senate is also set to resume its hearings on the flood control anomalies. Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said he will present his Chairman's Progress Report on the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s partial report on the issue even if it still could not get enough signatures to reach the plenary.

"As Blue Ribbon Chairman I owe it to the Filipino people to update them on what happened after seven to eight hearings. This is because many are not updated and especially because there are false narratives being spread that we are covering up for some persons and targeting others,” Lacson said in a statement over the weekend.

“And another compelling reason is that the partial committee report's contents have been overtaken by events," he added.

Lacson said he may deliver his privilege speech on May 4 or 5, hinting that it may also contain other documents or pieces of evidence not tackled in the previous hearings.

Once done, he said the panel may share the contents of the Chairman's Progress Report with other agencies including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Ombudsman to aid the agencies in their case buildup.

He also said the presentation of the Chairman’s report will eventually pave the way for the resumption of hearings on the matter.

The panel has plans to invite, among others, lawmakers including former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, as well as the former soldiers who claimed to have delivered huge amounts of cash to certain personalities involves in the anomalous flood control projects.

According to Lacson, the blue ribbon panel can hold the hearings “within the last leg” of the first regular session or before it adjourns sine die on June 6.

He also assured that the committee will balance its hearings with the possible impeachment trial of the Vice President.

“Assuming the Articles of Impeachment are transmitted to the Senate, we will have to think of making mornings vacant during the impeachment trial and during session days, so we can hold committee hearings,” Lacson pointed out.

Legislative agenda

Among the proposed laws on governance and political reform that the Senate aims to prioritize upon the resumption of sessions include the Anti-Political Dynasty Law, which seeks to regulate political succession within families, and the Party-List Reform Act, aimed at refining  representation in the lower chamber.

The Senate is also poised to continue deliberations on the proposed Independent People’s Commission Act and the proposed Right to Information Act—both are intended to strengthen transparency, accountability and public oversight of government institutions.

Other economic and fiscal measures that the Senate are also poised to tackle upon resumption include the proposed amendments to the Bank Secrecy Law, as well as revisions to the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act.

Also, senators are set to review the Estate Tax Amnesty program, which aims to boost revenue collection while easing compliance for taxpayers.

Also up for deliberations are the proposed amendments to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act or the country’s flagship conditional cash transfer program, Waste-to-Energy bill, amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), the Rice Tariffication Law, and a bill creating a Department of Water Resources.