Senate opens second regular session of 17th Congress

The Senate on Monday formally opened its second regular session of the 17th Congress.

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel II banged the gavel at exactly 10:13 a.m., signaling the opening of the session.

The Senate and the House of Representatives will hold a joint session at 4 p.m. Monday at the Batasang Pambansa to hear President Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Senators from the majority and minority were present except for Senator Leila de Lima, who is detained in the police custodial center on drug charges.

Members of the Senate Majority are Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Grace Poe, Juan Edgardo Angara, JV Ejercito, Richard Gordon, Greg Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Francis Escudero, Sherwin Gatchalian, and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

The members of the opposition are Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Francis Pangilinan, and Antonio Trillanes IV. Detained De Lima is part of the opposition.

Cabinet secretaries present during the opening included former-senator-now-Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Socio-economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, and Agrarian Reform secretary Rafael Mariano.

Pimentel earlier said that pending priority legislation for this session were the revival of the death penalty, tax reform, lowering of the age of criminal liability and constitutional amendments for a shift to the federal form of government.

The proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, the tax reform bill and the “end of endo” bill, or the Contractualization Act of 2017, are hoped to be certified as urgent by the Senate, said Pimentel. CBB/rga