Sotto: Duterte sent full report of COVID-19 response past midnight Tuesday

President Rodrigo Duterte sent to the Senate past midnight on Tuesday a copy of the full report of the actions he has taken in response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threats, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said.

"He sent me a full report only early this morning. Sending it to the members of the oversight," Sotto said in a message to reporters.

It was submitted at 12:40 a.m., he noted.

Asked if he was satisfied with Duterte's pilot report, Sotto said: "It's quite precise and concise to the spirit of what we expect. Although some provisions are still in process, most are being executed already."

Signed into law last week, the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act grants additional powers to Duterte to address the COVID-19 threats with flexibility, including the authority to realign available budget.

Section 5 of the said measure states that: "The President, during Monday of every week, shall submit a weekly report to Congress of all acts performed pursuant to this Act during the immediately preceding week."

The weekly report shall include the amount and corresponding utilization of the funds that were used, augmented, reprogrammed, reallocated, and realigned for COVID-19 response.

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Pia Cayetano, Bong Go, and Panfilo Lacson were assigned to be part of the Congressional Joint Oversight Committee which shall review the regular reporting of the President.

Four other members of the House of Representatives shall also join them in the said task.

On Monday, the Palace said Duterte would address the public at 4 p.m. but the message was delivered hours later, before midnight.—AOL/RSJ, GMA News