MANILA (Updated) -- The first day of the second regular session of the 17th Congress opened Monday, July 24, hours before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Duterte is scheduled to deliver his state address around 4 p.m. at the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City.
At the Senate, all senators were present except for Senator Leila de Lima who has been detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) custodial center for her alleged illegal drug links since February.
At the House, 264 lawmakers responded to the roll call during the opening of the sessions.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, former Senator and now Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana were among the Cabinet secretaries present during the opening of the Senate sessions.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III in his speech congratulated the chamber for receiving a high approval rating from the Filipino people in the second quarter of the year.
Citing a latest Pulse Asia survey, Pimentel said the Senate enjoys 59 percent trust ratings, four points higher than the 55 percent it received last March.
Pimentel told the Senate that they must work hard to retain or exceed the people s expectations.
"With higher trust and higher approval come higher expectations. We may have performed well before but we must exceed the standard we set in the previous session if we are to retain and exceed the trust approval that we have obtained from the public," he said.
Pimentel said the Senate this second regular session will address issues of national importance.
Among the bills they will prioritize, said Pimentel, are the anti-terrorism law, the tax reform acceleration and inclusion act, the national identification system and the universal health care act.
He said the Senate will also pursue the lasting peace in Mindanao by addressing the concerns of the Filipino Muslims through the Bangsamoro Basic Law and empower the regions to determine their development plans and their direction through the shift to federalism.
Pimentel said the Senate will also have to work and scrutinized 1,232 bills and 297 resolutions pending before Senate committees.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in his speech thanked his colleagues for their cooperation despite coming from "one of the most partisan" elections in history.
"Our performance speaks for itself. For our first session, we passed - on third reading - 210 legislative measures. Given that we had 97 session days, that's an average of two bills on third reading for every session day. Our concrete efforts to provide our people with better chances at life are undeniable," said Alvarez.
"[F]or all the 97 session days of our first session, we had a quorum. This is unheard of. Let us thank Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas for his decisiveness - and the House Members for their cooperation," he added.
Alvarez lists among the chamber's achievement the passage on third and final reading of Tax Reform Bill.
"For the longest time, a comprehensive reform of our tax laws was considered beyond the reach of reality," he said.
Aside from that, Alvarez noted that the creation of a law putting casinos under the gambit of Anti-Money Laundering Act is one of the "landmark reforms...long overdue," that they have passed.
"[W]ith the enactment of R.A. 10927, amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act to cover casino transactions, we have created an additional safeguard against the threats posed by those who perpetrated the Bangladesh Bank Heist and laid bare the vulnerabilities of our banking systems," he said.
The House Speaker also called for his colleagues to rally behind his priority bills, some of them aimed at the dissolution of marriage and creating civil union for all couples.
"Unfortunately, the present system practically coerces married persons to remain with each other even if the relationship is beyond repair," he said.
"We must also be considerate of the fact that marriage may not be for everyone. Presently, it even excludes certain groups of people from its fold. Let us tackle this issue head on. I will file a bill that will legally recognize and protect Civil Partnerships," Alvarez said.
Under his proposed measure, estranged or "unhappy" couples may speedily dissolve their marriage without going through the process of annulment.
Aside from that, Alvarez said they will fast track the passage of a Moro law to solve the decades-long problem of Mindanao.
"The Bangsamoro Basic Law draft has been submitted to the President and will soon be on its way into our chambers. This will be the basis for creating a homeland for our Bangsamoro brothers and sisters," he said.
The shift to federalism, Alvarez said, will also be part of the Congress' priority. It was a campaign promise of President Rodrigo Duterte.
"We have to exert additional effort in paving the way for the shift from a unitary to a federal form of government. This will address the structural defects that have hampered our national strategy in pursuit of peace, prosperity, and progress," Alvarez said.
During its first session Monday, the House of Representatives welcomed Francisco Datol Jr. and Milagros Magsaysay as its newest members from the Coalitions of Senior Citizens of the Philippines, Inc. party-list.
The Commission on Elections has recently proclaimed Datol and Magsaysay after the conflicting claims between two factions within the Senior Citizen's leadership have been settled.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will convene a joint session Monday afternoon to hear the President's address to the nation. (SunStar Philippines)