After weeks of gallivanting abroad or vacationing in Boracay, the senators are back in the Senate to face a full schedule of legislative and other activities.
Senate President Francis Escudero has itemized the backlog of bills and proposed amendments that the senators have to attend to.
Escudero listed these as: amendments to the foreign investors’ long-term lease act; e-governance act; open access in data transmission (Konektadong Pinoy); rationalization of the mining fiscal regime;
Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act; Virology Institute of the Philippines; Government Optimization Act; amendments to the right-of-way act; setting the term of office of barangay offiicials and members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK);
Judicial Fiscal Autonomy; denatured alcohol tax, and the Anti-POGO Act.
It should be noted that these proposed legislations have been agreed in a previous meeting of the Legislative Executive Development Council (LEDAC).
The Upper Chamber has only six session days after the resumption of session on June 2, and the Commission on Appointments still has to confirm 3 cabinet secretaries, 4 officials of constitutional commissions, 39 foreign service officials and 277 officials of the Armed Forces.
In a letter of Speaker Martin Romualdez, Escudero said “from the original schedule of June 2, 2025, the presentation of the Articles of Impeachment by the House of Representatives’ prosecution panel is now set to four o’clock in the afternoon of June 11, 2025.”
The delay of 9 days from the original schedule of the impeachment presentation which formalizes the start of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is viewed by many political observers as a measure of importance that the senators are giving to the impeachment process.
Poor Martin, including his cabal of attack dogs in the House of Representatives, now still bolstered by a female hailer adept at using the megaphone or bullhorn in an advanced manner (Abante) — it appears that the speaker is alone in advocating for the dismissal from the service of the VP through the impeachment process.
With the delay, the senators looked like they are “napipilitan lang.” Especially the senators who lost their reelection bids, knowing that they are only senators until June 30.
Even President Bongbong Marcos is saying that he rejects the impeachment. He said in Kuala Lumpur: “How many times do I have to say it? I didn’t want her impeached. None of my allies in Congress filed any complaint.” Those who did file the impeachment complaint are not under his control, he said.
Remember that Rep. Sandro Marcos, his son, is the first signatory in the 4th impeachment complaint against the VP. This meant presidential approval, and the hordes of money-hungry congressmen and women proceeded to sign.
Also, Martin Romualdez is the principal promoter of the impeachment process. The President in effect said that he is not his political ally.
Our highest officials are either lying, gaslighting us into believing that all is well in the country, and testing the Filipinos’ threshold of credulity.
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