Senate President Chiz Escudero announced that pending bills on Charter change (Cha-cha) will be set aside in the final regular session of the 19th Congress to give way to more important measures that genuinely enhance the lives of Filipinos.
Escudero underscored the need to focus on legislation that directly benefits the public and avoid measures that cause unnecessary division and political discord.
“We will set aside items which merely dissipate our energy and divide the public.”
“In this final regular session of the 19th Congress, following Quezon’s advice, we will set aside items which merely dissipate our energy and divide the public,” the veteran legislator said, referring to the late President Manuel L. Quezon, who served as the country’s first Senate President more than a century ago.
The seasoned lawmaker confirmed that Cha-cha proposals would be placed on the back burner and follow the standard legislative process, if considered at all.
“In its stead, bills which can affect the same result– but without the needless political noise and bickering — will be prioritized. This will allow us to focus our energy on measures which the people truly need,” the senator added.
He said that senators will focus on the common legislative agenda forged with the executive branch and the House of Representatives, pointing out that “legislation is not a one-way process.”
“Will it make our people’s burdens lighter?”
“We are not mere processors of proposals, but also proponents of them. And the Senate is best, as we know it, when it incubates brave ideas and initiates bold legislation,” Escudero explained.
To ensure legislative effectiveness, he introduced a three-way test for prioritizing bills: “Will it make the lives of our people easier? Will it help us move faster? Will it make our people’s burdens lighter?”
“This applies as well in deciding whether we need to legislate in the first place,” Escudero stressed. “For the Senate does not only propose new laws, it also disposes of needless or obsolete ones.”
