Push Admin

Article (news)

RG Cruz

ABS-CBN News

<div><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">MANILA <strong>(2nd UPDATE)</strong> – Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday shunned divisive proposals such as charter change as he laid down the legislative agenda of the Senate under his watch in the Third Regular Session of the 19th Congress.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;In this final regular session of the 19th Congress, following Quezon’s advice, we will set aside items which merely dissipate our energy and divide the public. For this same reason, pending bills on charter change will be placed in the backburner, and will follow the ordinary and regular process of legislation, if at all,&quot; Escudero said during the convening of the Senate. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;In its stead, bills which can effect the same result— but without the needless political noise and bickering — will be prioritized. This will allow us to focus our energy on measures which the people truly need,&quot; he added.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/27/3-in-4-filipinos-oppose-charter-change-pulse-asia-survey-1520">3 in 4 Filipinos oppose charter change: Pulse Asia survey</a></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/2/9/marcos-says-charter-change-push-limited-to-economic-provisions-104">Marcos says charter change push limited to economic provisions</a></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero said they would tackle items in the common legislative agenda forged with the Executive, and those nurtured by either the House or the Senate. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;We are not mere processors of proposals, but also proponents of them. And the Senate is best when it incubates brave ideas and initiates bold legislation,&quot; Escudero said as he proposed a three-way test for prioritizing bills.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;One, will it make the lives of our people easier?  Two, will it help us move faster?  Three, will it make our people’s burdens lighter?” </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero maintained that the foremost task of senators is to be the “chief common sense officers of the government.”</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“For common sense is what would bring ease to the lives of our countrymen. Let this standard be used in measuring every government proposal that comes our way… Will it make life easier for the Filipino?&quot; Escudero said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;In fact, this very standard embodies the work that we do in the Senate. We trim lengthy provisions, reduce projected costs, test for constitutionality, and ensure that stakeholders&#x27; concerns are addressed.  We do this because legislative haste often leads to time and resources wasted. Bills that are not forged in the fire of debate often comes out half-baked. And eventually require remedial sequels,&quot; he added.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero also vowed to make sure all bills submitted to the President are beyond reproach. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He said the Senate would scrutinize the proposed </span><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/20/dbm-to-submit-2025-budget-proposal-to-congress-on-july-29-1451"></a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/20/dbm-to-submit-2025-budget-proposal-to-congress-on-july-29-1451">2025 national budget</a></span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">and continue to exercise its oversight work to correct wrong policies in government as proof of the chamber’s independence. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero noted that the Senate has passed a &quot;raft of laws&quot; that ease the burden on big business, without passing laws that ease burdens of the public.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;Pati ease of paying taxes at ease of unloading bad loans, meron tayo niyan. Bakit walang ease of commuting and connecting? Ease of finishing school and finding work? Ease of healthcare for the sick? Ease of acquiring justice? Ease of growing food and feeding our families? Let us do the heavy work, and make hard decisions, to unburden the nation and uplift every Filipino. This is our unchanging mandate,&quot; he said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He also emphasized the Senate&#x27;s push for the country&#x27;s sovereignty in the context of ongoing disputes in the West Philippine Sea.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Make no mistake about it, this Senate is unanimous and unbending in defending our country’s independence and sovereignty.  Tayo’y makikipag-kaibigan pero hindi tayo pasisiil. Tayo’y makikipag-usap, pero hindi tayo magpapa-api,” the Senate chief said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“As such, we shall pass laws such as the Maritime Zone and Sea Lanes Act that will strengthen our claims over what is ours.  We will strengthen our military, not to ignite any conflict, but in order to secure our peace.  We will take peaceful measures to defend our people’s right to sail in our seas and fish in our waters—as what our ancestors had done, and what our children and our grandchildren shall do.  Indeed, we must work towards bridging these troubled waters,&quot; he said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/7/22/philippines-to-continue-to-assert-rights-after-deal-with-china-on-resupply-missions-says-dfa-1100">Philippines to ‘continue to assert rights’ after deal with China on resupply missions, says DFA</a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero appeared to justify the pace of legislation in its chamber, as the Senate is often compared to the House of Representatives which has traditionally passed more bills than the House.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;The Senate focuses on quality, rather than quantity. We legislate only if those existing are no longer sufficient, or if no other solution suffices. This is not a factory that mass produces laws for the sake of showing them on the scoreboard, yet do not, in any way, improve our people’s lives,&quot; Escudero said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Senate chief likewise emphasized the stability of institutions and the safeguarding of public and private rights.  Escudero maintained that the Senate is a chamber of sobriety and prudence.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;We temper the passions of public opinion, and proceed in a rational and deliberate manner. We do not immediately embrace populism that may ultimately harm the people,&quot; Escudero said.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He rallied his colleagues to put the interest of the people over those of political parties or personal ambitions. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">He said that in matters of foreign relations, the Senate helps maintain good ties with other nations, even as the Senate puts forward the national interest. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Escudero reminded his colleagues of the words of then-Senate President Manuel L. Quezon, delivered nearly 108 years ago on October 16, 1916. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Wherever the bicameral legislature exists, it is assumed that the Lower House will be like a very sensitive thermometer that will register, in its action, even the slightest and most momentary changes in popular sentiment,&quot; Escudero said. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“[On the other hand], the Senate must represent the serene, mature, and prudent judgment of public opinion. In other words, the Senate must be a sure, unshakable dam destined to contain the exaltations and overflow of popular passion. If the voice of the people is the voice of God, it must be enclosed in the safe channel of serene reflection.” </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">At the same time, Escudero said the Senate would work to bring prosperity to all.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;We shall be a Senate which bridges social divides and builds a path to prosperity for every Filipino. Our people are overworked, underpaid, and overburdened. A comfortable life has eluded them for generations. Their dreams and struggles, more than any policy paper, provide what our legislative agenda should contain and inspire us to work even harder. I say that it is time to reframe our work-- and pivot to laws that make life easier for our people,&quot; Escudero said.</span></div><div><br/></div>

<p>Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday shunned divisive proposals such as charter change as he laid down the legislative agenda of the Senate. </p>

Senate President Francis Escudero on Monday shunned divisive proposals such as charter change as he laid down the legislative agenda of the Senate.

Escudero shuns cha-cha, divisive measures as Senate opens Third Regular Session

News

Entertainment

Lifestyle

Sports

Metro.Style

More

Traffic

Manila

Horoscope

News

Escudero shuns cha-cha, divisive measures as Senate opens Third Regular Session

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 22, 2024 09:38 AM PHT

|

Updated Jul 22, 2024 11:21 AM PHT

Read More:

ABSNews

ANC promo

SONA

SONA 2024

Marcos SONA

State of the Nation Address

Marcos Jr

Bongbong Marcos

Senate

ABS-CBN is the leading media and entertainment company in the Philippines, offering quality content across TV, radio, digital, and film. Committed to public service and promoting Filipino values, ABS-CBN continues to inspire and connect audiences worldwide.

Corporate

Investors

Governance

International Distribution

Corporate

Governance

Investors

International Distribution

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

AI Policy

Terms of Service

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

NPC Seal of Registration

Privacy Policy

Terms of Service

AI Policy

Advertise with Us

© 2025 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.