Senate fails to pass  proposed budget for Dengvaxia patients due to lack of quorum

FAST LANE The DOH had designated so-called dengue and
Dengvaxia lanes in hospitals to accommodate victims of the
anti-dengue vaccine. —LYN RILLON

For lack of quorum, the Senate adjourned early Thursday morning without passing the proposed P1.16-billion supplemental budget this year for the medical expenses of those administered with the anti-dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia.

Senate Minority Franklin Drilon questioned the absence of a quorum on the floor after the chamber approved the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

“Mr. President, I raised the question of a quorum,” Drilon said when the session resumed around 2 am.

“How about my Dengvaxia (supplemental budget)?” Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on finance, asked.

“We can’t take up anything if we have no quorum, Mr. President,” Drilon said.

Legarda insisted that the chamber should pass the bill, saying the Dengvaxia victims are waiting for the supplemental budget bill, which has been certified urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

“I leave it to the body to decide whether we want to allocate it now or to make them wait for another two months for the medical assistance to be given,” she said.

Congress will be on break until July 23.

“I can read my sponsorship speech now. We can pass it,” Legarda pleaded.

But Drilon insisted on his motion to adjourn the session for lack of quorum on the floor.

The House of Representatives had already approved the measure but it also has to get the approval of the Senate./ac