Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian on Sunday urged Sen. Imee Marcos to actively participate in advancing priority legislation instead of criticizing the chamber for passing only two of the 53 priority measures during the First Regular Session of the 20th Congress.
In an interview with radio dzBB, Gatchalian said the cooperation of every senator is essential for the Senate to complete its legislative work properly and on time.
“Well, makisali na lang siya para hindi na tayo lumagpak dahil kasama rin siya doon sa lagpak. Isang institution lang naman kami. So, mas maganda kung makisali siya at tumulong para maitaas natin yung ating grado
(Well, it’s best if she just actively participates so we don’t get a failing mark because she is also among those who fail as we are under one institution. So, it is best if she will fully cooperate so we can achieve a passing grade),” Gatchalian said.
His remarks came after Marcos expressed disappointment in a Facebook video over the small number of priority measures approved by the Senate, saying the chamber had fallen short of expectations.
Marcos attributed the slow legislative output to repeated leadership changes in the Senate—from Sen. Francis Escudero to Vicente Sotto III, Alan Peter Cayetano, and now Gatchalian.
“Fifty-three sama yun. Isipin mo dalawa lang naipasa namin,. Pambihira, napaka-palpak namin, ay importante itong 53 na it, talagang priority ito — political dynasty, online sexual abuse, bank secrecy. Naku baka diyan tinatago yung mga flood control na libu-libo. Tapos nandito pa yung amendments to the EPIRA Act…rice tariffication amendment..Lahat yan, naisantabi.
(It should have been 53 [priority measures] but only two were passed. We are remiss of our duties because these 53 are priority measures — political dynasty, online sexual abuse, bank secrecy. Maybe this is just a cover up for the flood control projects anomalies. We have the amendments to the EPIRA, …amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law. All of that was sidelined),” Marcos said.
“Hindi ako nag-e-excuse slip ha, pero sa totoo lang nakita naman ninyo na sa isang taon sa Senado ilan ang aming presidente, apat ang aming SP sa loob ng isang taon. Wala na kaming ginawa kundi palitan nang palitan ang namumuno. Palpak talaga yan na lang ang ginawa namin
(I am not making up excuses, but as you can see we had four Senate presidents within a year. We did nothing but to change our leader. That’s our biggest failure because all we did was that),” she added.
Gatchalian acknowledged that excessive politicking had hampered the Senate’s work but said the chamber could still catch up if all senators fully cooperated.
“Pipilitin talaga namin matapos, in fact, ipa-prioritize natin. Sabi ko nga doon sa aking speech, dapa i-prioritize natin yung economic and business bills dahil mabagal na yung ating ekonomiya
(We will work harder so we can finish them, in fact, we will prioritize them. Like what is said in my speech [at the start of the Second Regular Session of the 20th Congress], we should prioritize economic and business bills to boost our slow economy),” Gatchalian said.
He said the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council will meet on Friday to finalize the measures that will be prioritized.
“Ang focus natin dapat trabaho at ang ating ekonomiya dahil kung hindi natin mapapabilis ang ating ekonomiya, yung laban sa kahirapan, yung poverty reduction ay maaantala yun. Mas marami tao ang mawawalan ng trabaho
(We must focus on our work and how to boost our economy, aimed at fighting poverty so as not to stall poverty reduction otherwise many will lose their jobs),” he added.