Senate resumes session; to tackle priority bills

The Senate will resume its session to continue working on its priority measures for the 3rd Regular Session of the 17th Congress on Monday, July 23.

The Upper Chamber is also expected to act on the bicameral conference committee report on the Bangsamoro Organic Law or the 'Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,' which was approved last July 18.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said that senators will hold a caucus on Tuesday, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address (SONA), to determine the "common priority legislative agenda" the Senate will tackle in the coming months.

According to Sotto, each senator had been asked to submit their list of priority bills for consideration of the whole body. The senators would then compare their list of common priority measures to that of the House of Representatives and the executive branch.

Sotto said that for his part, his priority measures would include the proposed Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Act, the Prevention of Terrorism Act, the Medical Scholarship Act, the Presidential Anti-Drug Authority Act, and the Medical Scholarship Act of 2016.

He also said that during the caucus, senators would discuss the Consultative Committee's draft federal constitution in order to "determine and gauge what would be the stand of the Senate" regarding charter change.

After the opening ceremonies at the Senate plenary hall on Monday morning, the senators will proceed to the Batasang Pambansa Complex in the afternoon to attend the joint session of Congress and hear the president's third SONA.

The Senate will go back to its legislative work while enjoying the highest public approval and trust ratings among key government agencies, according to a recent Pulse Asia poll.

The survey conducted last June said the Senate received a 69 percent approval rating and 61 percent trust rating by Filipinos throughout the country.