Pimentel urges Alvarez to change mindset: ‘Quality over quantity’

“Quality over quantity” has always been the mindset of the Senate when it comes to the deliberation and approval of proposed measures.

This was according to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III who was apparently reacting to the declaration of party mate Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, who has repeatedly called the Senate a “mabagal na kapulungan” (slow congress).

“The Senate is the ‘nag-aaral na kapulungan’,” Pimentel asserted in a text message to reporters on Wednesday.

Pimentel urged his fellow Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) leader to change his mindset and not judge the Senate’s productivity in terms of number of laws passed.

“Let us not judge lawmaking in terms of number of laws passed but in terms of how the laws we pass improve the quality of life on earth in general and the quality of life of Filipinos in particular,” he said.

Alvarez had recurrently criticized the Senate for its slow action on legislative measures in several interviews.

But Pimentel stressed that naturally, there will be more bills emanating from the House because “local bills” originate from the lower chamber.

“All bills renaming and or merging schools, increasing hospital beds, etc, must and do come from the House,” Pimentel noted.

“But we must all change our mindset—from quantity to quality,” he also said.        /kga