Senators eager to hear how Marcos addresses inflation, pandemic

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will do its utmost best to support President Marcos’ legislative agenda and fund his initiatives, which he is expected to spell out in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) this afternoon, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said yesterday.

Zubiri, who is expected to be elected as Senate President at the opening of the 19th Congress today, said lawmakers are looking forward to hear Marcos’ SONA to give them a clear picture of what the administration wants by way of laws.

“As long as the proposals (from Malacañang) would be beneficial to the people, we will help… absolutely, we want to help him (Marcos),” Zubiri told dzBB in Filipino.

He said he expects the Senate and the House of Representatives, led by incoming Speaker Martin Romualdez, to find ways to raise revenues without necessarily having to impose higher taxes to be able to authorize funding for the administration’s various programs, including possibly some form of economic stimulus.

“What we need to look for is fiscal space. We’ve been receiving low tax payments and revenues because of the pandemic so our fiscal space is small for the President to move so we can address that through plugging leakages,” he said.

He urged Malacañang to appoint an effective chief of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office for improved coordination between the executive branch and Congress.

Zubiri earlier proposed that Marcos immediately convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council to allow the two branches to work out in detail the priority measures that Congress needs to pass immediately.

He said he was eager to hear from the President how his administration will address inflation, which he said is the “problem of the whole world.”

Lawmakers also want to find out how the administration will contain COVID, including its vaccination program and health protocols, given the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants, he said.

“I also want to hear how he will strengthen the economy, how we can help our MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises). I’m also interested about his plans for agriculture and I hope will continue with the infrastructure program,” Zubiri said.

Sen. JV Ejercito is also anticipating Marcos’ plans for the pandemic and the economy.

“I hope to hear some specifics on the direction he wants to take for the country. His inauguration speech was inspiring but his SONA needs to flesh out the details of his plan to address the challenges we face,” Ejercito said in a statement.

“He needs to come up with a plan that balances the need to protect our people from the current and future pandemic and the urgency of reviving our economy in the face of mounting debt, external pressures and inflation,” he said.

Ejercito said he expects Marcos to discuss a comprehensive economic plan that will go beyond proposals to raise existing taxes and levy new ones.

“There have been talks about raising taxes. This cannot be a standalone plan; rather, it should be part of a comprehensive economic blueprint that I hope will be discussed in the SONA,” he said.

The lawmaker also emphasized the need to anchor the country’s pandemic response on the Universal Health Care Law, which he principally sponsored during his first term in the Senate.

“In fighting the pandemic, I hope the President anchors his strategy on the effective implementation of the Universal Health Care law so we can strengthen our health care system and provide our people with affordable and accessible health care,” he said.

Ejercito recently filed an amendment to the measure seeking to adjust current PhilHealth contribution schemes.

At the same time, the senator is also pushing for the establishment of new specialty health care facilities in all regions of the country, as well as the protection of barangay health workers.

Aside from economic recovery, Ejercito said he hopes Marcos will discuss his plans to strengthen the Build Build Build program, the previous administration’s flagship infrastructure initiative.

“The President has promised during the campaign that he will improve former president Duterte’s Build Build Build program. In the SONA, I hope he unveils his infrastructure development program,” he said.

“Specifically, this should include infrastructure projects that will modernize our transportation system, strengthen our tourism, and more importantly, allow for the efficient movement of people and goods,” he added.

Ejercito earlier filed a bill seeking to create a comprehensive master plan for infrastructure development and transportation development – his first measure in the 19th Congress.

Push for pro-worker bills

Organized labor expects Marcos to prioritize and push for the passage of pro-worker bills in his first SONA.

“We urge Marcos to make true his commitment to protect the security of tenure and end the abusive contractual arrangement,” the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) said in a statement.

The group expressed hope that Marcos will support security of tenure bills that were filed before the Senate and House. – Evelyn Macairan, Mayen Jaymalin, John Unson