Pangilinan sees safeguard of ‘checks and balances’ at lower House

Photo from Kiko Pangilinan’s Facebook page

Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has expressed optimism that the “checks and balances” at the House of Representatives will be defended now that the militant Makabayan bloc decided to leave the supermajority coalition in Congress.

Pangilinan lauded and welcomed the resolve of the seven-member party-list groups comprising the Makabayan bloc for defecting from the supermajority.

“The assumption by the Makabayan bloc of an independent role at the House of Representatives assures that the democratic processes in the chamber would be preserved, and that another group may stand as a potent, vigilant, and credible fiscalizer against the imperfections and excesses of this administration,” the opoosition senator said.

The Makabayan bloc assailed President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration for supposedly turning into “a fascist, pro-imperialist and anti-people” government.

In a statement, the Makabayan bloc said: “Today, we, seven party list representatives of the Makabayan Bloc, declare our separation from the majority coalition in the House of Representatives to intensify our opposition to the Duterte administration that has now fully unraveled as a fascist, pro-imperialist and anti-people regime.”

The group’s separation from the supermajority came after 119 lawmakers voted to slash the 2018 budget of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to a meager P1,000.

“Now that President Duterte and his allies are embarking on efforts to undermine the very institutions that serve as a check on his Executive powers, now that he is pushing for an insidious revision of the Constitution, now that he has revived his threat to declare martial law nationwide and impose a revolutionary government, we resolve to intensify efforts to defeat the emergence of a new dictatorship,” the Makabayan bloc said.

The seven-member coalition includes progressive party-list lawmakers from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Kabataan, Gabriela and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT-Teachers). /kga