Hybrid House session to press work on GAB, other priority measures
SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has authorized the conduct of hybrid session in the House of Representatives in order to finish some priority bills aside from the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
This was clarified by Secretary General Reginald Velasco as he downplayed rumors that the session was a “hybrid session midnight session.”
According to Velasco, the session has been deemed hybrid since it started at 9 am of September 25, Monday.
“It’s not a hybrid midnight session. It’s an authorized hybrid session (allowed under the rules) which started at 9 in the morning Monday and ended after midnight.
The Speaker has authorized the conduct of hybrid sessions for September 25 and 26, 2023 sessions to take up urgent priority measures,” Velasco said.
Approved during early morning of Tuesday’s session is the House Bill 8969 or the proposed Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension System Act.
Also up for approval are the the Enhancement of the Fiscal Regime for the Mining Industry, the Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act – Declaring Large-Scale Agri-Fishery Commodities and Tobacco Smuggling, Hoarding, Profiteering, Cartelizing, and Other Acts of Market Abuse as Economic Sabotage.
The House of Representatives is currently deliberating on the proposed 2024 national budget.
Velasco added that the authority of the Speaker is pursuant to Sec 89 Rule XII, Rules of the House, particularly “there us urgent necessity to act on any measure, the Speaker, in consultation with the Majority and Minority Leaders, may authorize the conduct of session through electronic platforms.
