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MANILA, Philippines – House assistant minority leader Arlene Brosas reached the podium stand to interpellate the plenary sponsor of a Marcos administration priority measure, but she opened her speech with an impassioned callout to colleagues who were not physically present in the House plenary.
“How can we be like this? We are talking about the national framework on the land use bill and there is no physical quorum right now,” Brosas said on Wednesday, May 17.
Current House rules – which have been in place since the pandemic – allow lawmakers to attend plenary sessions virtually.
On Wednesday, 310 out of 314 lawmakers were considered present in the session. But as Rappler also observed, there were only around 20 to 30 legislators on the House floor at the time of Brosas’ interpellation.
Responding to Brosas’ remarks, House Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor reiterated that the House’s hybrid setup is still being implemented.
“If the members do not wish to avail of the privilege of being physically present, we leave it up to their constituency if their constituents will find that their representation in Congress is wanting. But as long as our rules stand, the progressive hybrid sessions must be allowed,” he said.
Brosas said she understands the rules, but she also compared her colleagues to students who have fully returned to face-to-face classes after years of pandemic-driven virtual and hybrid learning setups.
“Hindi ba nakakahiya (Isn’t it a shame) that most of our members are not here when we are discussing a very important bill?” the Gabriela party-list lawmaker asked. “Even students are now taking part in full face-to-face classes. Why can’t this plenary do the same?”
“If they are attending via Zoom, we will never know what they are doing, if they are listening or not,” she added. “This should not be the case when we discuss another important measure. The public is looking up to us yet we are not physically present and participating.”
Brosas and her two other allies in the Makabayan bloc already filed a resolution in March urging the House to return to full face-to-face plenary sessions “in light of the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, as well as the constitutional principles of transparency of all acts of public officials and proceedings of government agencies and accountability to the people of the House and all members.”
The chamber has yet to adopt that resolution, which is pending before the rules committee. – Rappler.com
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