Both chambers of Congress resumed session on Monday, with the House Speaker and Senate President keen on moving forward from where they left off last month.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez set the tone for the Lower Chamber by saying lawmakers are “on the right side of history” for inquiring into the controversial drug war waged by the previous administration.
In remarks at the resumption of the session, the Speaker vowed that lawmakers would vigorously pursue its investigation and that it would eventually unearth the truth.
Romualdez said attempts to derail the Quad Committee’s (Quad Comm) efforts to ferret out the truth behind extrajudicial killings (EJKs) that took place during the Duterte administration would surely fail.
“To those who attempt to prevent us from seeking truth and justice, I have only one thing to say to you: you will not succeed in your evil intentions,” he said in Filipino.
The Speaker also rallied members of the House of Representatives, urging them to remain steadfast in anticipation of attacks from critics.
“Since we are slowly seeing the light and truth, let’s expect the attack on our institution to intensify. But we will not be moved. We will not allow the time of darkness and evil to return,” he stressed.
“And make no mistake – no matter the challenges, no matter the opposition – we will stand our ground,” he added
“Our work transcends personal ambition; it is about laying the foundation for a nation that is free, just, and governed by the rule of law. We are building a legacy that our children and grandchildren can look back on with pride,” the Speaker said.
As a result of their ongoing inquiry, Quad Comm members have already filed two bills that seek to plug loopholes in existing laws, Romualdez pointed out.
These are House Bill (HB) 10986, or the “Anti-Extrajudicial Killing Act,” and HB 10987, or the “Anti-Offshore Gaming Operations Act.”
The “Anti-Extrajudicial Killing Act” explicitly classifies extrajudicial killing as a heinous crime, ensuring that anyone, regardless of rank or position, found guilty of such acts faces appropriate criminal penalties.
The “Anti-Offshore Gaming Operations Act,” on the other hand, aims for a total ban on all forms of offshore gaming operations in the country, with penalties for violations, Romualdez explained.
Meanwhile, Senate President Francis Escudero’s first order of business upon sessions’ resumption was to file a bill to defer the parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) given the recent Supreme Court ruling excluding Sulu from the regional group.
The first parliamentary election is scheduled for 2025, but Escudero is pushing to hold it on May 11, 2026, instead, to allow the region to reconfigure its jurisdictions and reallocate the seats of its 80-member parliament.
Escudero expressed confidence that President Marcos will certify his proposal – Senate Bill No. 2862 – as urgent due to the importance of the measure and the tight schedule of the Senate and House of Representatives for the remainder of the 19th Congress.
He said the High Court’s decision provides a compelling reason to postpone the Bangsamoro regular elections due to its legal implications on Sulu’s exclusion from the autonomous region.
Most provinces comprising the former Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao or ARMM ratified the law except for Sulu, but it was still included in the then newly-formed BARMM.
The BARMM parliament has established 32 parliamentary districts in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Cotabato City, the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area in Cotabato province, and in Sulu.
A total of 80 members of the parliament will be elected from the 32 parliamentary districts, including the seven in Sulu.
Escudero said that the allocation of representatives from Sulu in the BARMM parliament needs to be decided and organized, as part of the peace talks is consultation with stakeholders in BARMM.
The Commission on Elections has started receiving certificates of candidacy for the 2025 BARMM parliamentary elections and will continue to do so until November 9 while waiting for Congress’s action on the possible postponement of the polls.
