Cayetano not keen on Congress special session

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano was noncommittal to calls for a special session of Congress to pass a supplemental health budget to address the COVID-19 crisis, saying it wouldn’t be prudent for lawmakers to convene at this time, considering there were still available funds.

But he said the House of Representatives was ready and willing to hold an emergency session during the congressional recess, which began on March 11, should President Duterte call for one.

“I’m 100-percent sure that if necessary, the President won’t have any second thoughts in calling for it, but I think right now, it’s basically using the funds that are available,” Cayetano said in a news conference.

“So unless we need to pass or amend [any law], it’s not prudent to convene the House. If ever we are called to a special session, which we are willing to do, we need to do it creatively,” the Taguig lawmaker told reporters.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman agreed with the Speaker, saying there was no need for a special session “because the President’s contingent fund and the traditional calamity fund are immediately available funding sources without waiting for legislative authorization.”

Preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the treatment of infected patients fall within the purview of the P13-billion contingent fund, the opposition lawmaker said.

The House appropriations panel last week approved the proposed P1.65-billion augmentation fund for the Department of Health, but the chamber did not have enough time to discuss the measure in the plenary session.