Senators OK holding sessions on Thursdays —Zubiri

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday said senators have agreed to conduct sessions on Thursdays to allow them to tackle and approve priority bills.

Zubiri said senators approved the additional session days during their caucus which lasted for one hour.

“We will try our very best to pass the three fiscal bills pushed by the DOF (Department of Finance) and the resetting of the BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) elections," the Senate leader said.

“I commit that I will put in the agenda every day the priority bills whether the chairman likes it or not,” he added.

The senator added that the upper chamber aims to pass the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Bill, GUIDE bill, Learners with Disabilities Bill, extending amnesty for estate tax, and other measures that are already approved on second reading.

Zubiri also noted that of the 16 bills in the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), seven to eight measures are already in the process of final passage such as the Bureau of Fire Protection modernization bill, which is already in the bicameral committee.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III last week proposed to hold sessions on Thursdays to tackle priority bills when Congress resumes on May 17.

“I will propose to have sessions on Thursdays which we had in the Old Congress so we can have 12 days instead of 9,” Sotto said.

To recall, the chamber usually holds sessions from Monday to Wednesday but with the sine die adjournment on June 5, the Congress only has three weeks to discuss the priority measures.—AOL, GMA News