Sona 2024: Senate opens 3rd regular session of 19th Congress

FILE PHOTO: The third regular session of the 19th Congress officially opens Monday, July 22, 2024, hours before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the Batasang Pambansa. Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero banged the gavel a few minutes past 10 a.m., ceremoniously marking the opening of the session. (Mark Pimentel/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines — The third regular session of the 19th Congress officially opened on Monday hours before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona).

At the upper chamber’s plenary hall, Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero banged the gavel a few minutes past 10 a.m., ceremoniously marking the session’s opening.

All 23 senators were present at the hall when the session was officially opened. To recall, Sonny Angara has formally resigned from his post as a senator to be the country’s education secretary.

Later in the afternoon, the senators and their counterparts in the House of Representatives will convene in a joint session at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City to hear Marcos deliver his Sona.

Senate priorities

Earlier, Escudero said the chamber would focus on passing priority measures to address the country’s economic woes.

“We will focus on what was agreed upon during the recent Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting under the Common Legislative Agenda,” Escudero previously said in a statement.

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Among these bills include amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act; Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy or CREATE More bill; and Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act.

Earlier, the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council chaired by the President enumerated priority bills for passage by June 2025, as follows:

• Reforms to Philippine Capital Markets
• Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act
• Amendments to the Right-of-Way Act
• Excise Tax on Single-Use Plastics
• Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime
• Department of Water Resources
• Amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law
• Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act
• Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act
• Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act
• Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act
• Philippine Maritime Zones Act
• Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act
• VAT on Digital Services
• New Government Auditing Code
• Blue Economy Act
• Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act
• Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act
• Open Access in Data Transmission Act
• Waste-to-Energy Bill
• Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)
• Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel
• E-Government Act / E-Governance Act
• Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law
• Philippine Immigration Act

READ: Pimentel’s wish for Escudero: Peace on his ‘very short tenure; no surprises’

According to Escudero, the Senate will hold legislative sessions on Thursdays to boost the number of senators’ working days and hasten the passage of measures.

“We will set aside an extra day, Thursday, to discuss these measures, approve these as far as we can because we only have about 70 days left before this Congress ends. 70 session days absent any typhoons, calamities that might cause us to declare suspension of session or work,” he said.