The Senate approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to rename Roosevelt Avenue in Quezon City after the late Filipino actor Fernando Poe Jr.
Voting 22-0-1, the chamber approved House Bill No. (HBN) 7499 which would rename Roosevelt Avenue located in the legislative district I of Quezon City to Fernando Poe Jr. Avenue.
Senator Grace Poe, daughter of the late actor who was hailed as the king of Philippine movies, abstained from voting on the measure.
Poe thanked her colleagues for supporting the passage of the measure, noting that although she abstained from voting, she is “so happy that this has passed”.
“In my heart, I am so happy that this has passed.”
“I purposely abstained because of our rule that it might be a conflict of interest. But in my heart, I am so happy that this has passed. So, thank you very much,” the veteran legislator said after the chamber approved the measure.
HBN 7499 initially sought to rename Del Monte Avenue but Senate President Tito Sotto III introduced an amendment renaming Roosevelt Avenue instead.
HBN 7499 initially sought to rename Del Monte Avenue, which is also located in Quezon City’s first legislative district after the late actor, but Senate President Tito Sotto III introduced an amendment to Section 1 of the proposed measure renaming Roosevelt Avenue instead.
The amendment was accepted by Senator Manny Pacquiao, chair of the Committee on Public Works and sponsor of the bill.
Under the measure, the Department of Public Works and Highways shall issue the necessary rules, orders, and circulars to implement the provisions within 60 days from its effectivity.
The Senate also approved on final reading four local bills seeking to create and reconstitute various engineering offices in Mindanao.
Approved were HBNs 6227, seeking to create a new district engineering office in the third legislative district of the province of Zamboanga del Norte; HBN 5891, reconstituting the Lanao del Norte district engineering office in the province into two separate district engineering offices; HBN 5890, creating the Iligan City district engineering office; and HBN 5855, establishing the second district engineering office in the municipality of Compostela, in the province of Davao de Oro.
