House to resume session with strict protocols amid high COVID-19 cases
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will resume its session on Monday with strict health and safety protocols in place amid an influx in COVID-19 cases and the threat of the more infectious Omicron variant.
“This is not the time to be complacent. We needed to step up our health and safety protocols in the House so we could keep the legislative mill running even in the midst of what has been described as the worst surge in COVID-19 cases in the country,” House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said in a statement on Sunday.
The lower chamber of Congress is set to adjourn its session on February 5.
“We only have three weeks or nine session days to finish some priority measures before we adjourn for the election period,” Velasco said as the campaign period for national candidates will start on February 8.
The House is expected to pass on final reading House Bill (HB) No. 10582 or the proposed Rural Financial Inclusion and Literacy Act and HB No. 10579 which aims to strengthen the Commission on Elections’ field offices.
Concerned committees will exert more time to finalize the proposed Magna Carta for Barangay Health Workers, the National Housing Development Act, and the bill assigning health workers in every barangay across the country.
Velasco called on the Senate to act on bills that hurdled the House’s final reading. These are the proposed Internet Transactions Act and the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises or GUIDE Act; the bills creating the Medical Reserve Corps, Philippine Virology Institute, and Center for Disease Prevention and Control; hiring of mental health professionals in basic education; increasing social pension of indigent senior citizens; and strengthening data privacy protection.
“We urge the Senate to expedite the deliberations and approval of these measures so we can pass them into law before the campaign period,” said the speaker.
The House is also anticipated to strengthen the implementation of the HousePass System while plenary sessions will still be conducted in a hybrid setup.
Only 20 percent of the workforce in each department and office in the House will be permitted to report for work.
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