Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Monday said he could only hope that the Senate, under the leadership of new Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, would act swiftly on the passage of priority bills.
In a short briefing, Alvarez was asked if he expects faster passage of priority bills now that Sotto took Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III’s post.
“Well kami naman sa House of Representatives, we wish him luck at sana mas gumanda pa ‘yung takbo ng passage ng legislation… Hopefully (bumilis aprubahan ang priority bills) but, we can only hope,” Alvarez answered.
Alvarez previously described the Senate as a “slow chamber” and said its leaders should be “a bit more active so they can pass more bills.”
READ: Alvarez tells Pimentel: Admit Senate’s failing
Then Senate President Pimentel refuted Alvarez by saying that the upper chamber has always believed in the mindset of “quality over quantity” when it comes to the deliberation and approval of proposed measures.
Pimentel had also urged Alvarez to change his way of thinking, saying: “Let us not judge lawmaking in terms of the 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.”
READ: Pimentel urges Alvarez to change mindset: ‘Quality over quantity’
On Monday, Pimentel stepped down as Senate president and nominated Sotto to lead the upper House.
The change in leadership has ensued after a majority of Senate members – 15 of 23 – has signed a resolution picking Sotto as the new Senate president./ac
READ: Pimentel bows out; nominates Sotto as next Senate president
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