Senators grumble over vetoed bills, prod liaison office to shape up
Senate of the Philippines. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JESS YUSON
MANILA, Philippines – Senators on Thursday called for “better coordination” by the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) to avoid more bills being vetoed by President Benigno Aquino III.
The call came after Aquino thumbed down another measure, the proposed amendments to the Centenarian Act.
To address the problem, re-elected Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV said in a text message that there should be “better monitoring and coordination by the PLLO.”
“The PLLO should be much more hands on,” said Senator Sergio Osmeña in a separate text message.
Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, meanwhile, reiterated his proposal for the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) to hold regular executive meeting “so as not to place the President in a predicament” and to also avoid “wasting” the time of Congress.
“My suggestion to Executive Secretary (Paquito) Ochoa should be accepted. I told the Ledac Execom that a regular execom meeting be held so as not to place the President in a predicament if he dislikes a bill and it will avoid wasting the time of Congress,” Sotto said.
Senator Ferdinand “Bong-Bong” Marcos said the executive department must be consistent with its pronouncements, noting how some legislative priorities discussed in Ledac would end up being vetoed by the President.
