A DAY after the opening of 17th Congress, newly installed Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez vowed that his leadership in the House of Representative will uphold the interest of the Filipino people.
In an interview, Alvarez said that his position is consistent with the pronouncement made by President Rodrigo Duterte in his recent State of the Nation Address outlining the policies to ease the suffering of the common Filipino.
“Let me assure you, we will be on the side of the people,” Alvarez said.
The House leader said that with an overwhelming majority, he is confident of the passage of Duterte’s priority measures.
“We will try to expedite our work here, although you must understand that I have no control over the Senate. But here in the House of Representatives we will do our job,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez said the respective committees of the House will buckle down to work to simultaneously tackle the priority bills of the Duterte administration, including the grant of emergency powers to address the traffic problem and the reduction of corporate and personal income taxes.
He said the House will give equal attention to social legislation such as the increase in pension for members of the Social Security System and other benefits for senior citizens.
He also said the House would work for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill, saying the legislature should take the cue from Duterte who has already signed an FOI executive order covering agencies under the executive department.
Though the Anti-Dynasty Bill is not part of the priority bills of the administration, Alvarez said he is open to such proposal.
During his speech on Monday, Alvarez assured Duterte the passage of certain proposed measures including the death penalty for heinous crimes as well as the resolution calling for a Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) to make way for the country’s shift to federalism. (Sunnex)