As a member of the independent opposition, I have tried not to meddle in the intramurals of the majority coalition on the Speakership row.
But I cannot anymore remain silent as a Member of the House of Representatives because the unresolved acrimonious leadership issue is damaging both the institution and the public interest.
The suspension of the sessions of the House of Representatives starting in the afternoon of Tuesday, October 6, 2020, up to November 15, 2020 or a period of 40 days, without the prior consent of the Senate violates Section 16 (5) of Article VI of the Constitution which unequivocally provides:
“Neither House during the sessions of the Congress shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”
The abrupt termination of the plenary deliberations on the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) and the premature approval on second reading of the GAB upon the twin motions of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano are unprecedented in the history of the House of Representatives.
The plenary scrutiny on the national budget has been sacrificed to the altar of the on-going House leadership squabble.
In response to the disclosure of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano that my Congressional District (First District of Albay) has among the biggest allocations for infrastructure projects for 2021, may I underscore the following:
The ballooning birth rate consequent to the lockdowns is also an indictment of the Duterte administration’s failure to adequately provide family planning services and access to contraceptives during the health emergency.
The Commission on Population (PopCom) projected that there will be 214,000 more newborn babies attributed to the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, which is over the 1.7 million expected this year.
