CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has proposed a “virtual session” for lawmakers during the Lenten break to deliberate on proposed bills and protect them against the COVID-19 infection.
“I am suggesting that the House and the Senate meet in a special session through video-teleconferencing and other technological means since President Duterte has banned mass gatherings and banned travel from the provinces to Metro Manila,” Rodriguez, a second district congressman here, said in a statement Sunday.
He said both chambers of Congress should set up the telecommunications infrastructure to enable House members to hold online discussions on important bills and other matters to address the coronavirus pandemic.
Rodriguez said an assembly of 300 legislators at the House plenary hall would already be considered “mass gathering” – which could be deemed a violation of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “community quarantine” order for the entire Metro Manila.
Thus, he stressed, holding the session through video-conferencing was the ideal.
Besides, lawmakers from outside Metro Manila would not be able to travel back to Manila because of the lockdown that started on Sunday and would last up to April 14, he said.
“The prudent thing to do is to stay home and work from home to avoid getting infected by this virus,” Rodriguez said. “This is much like telecommuting or working from home via computer technologies, which a 2018 law once encouraged to lessen traffic congestion and reduced much of the inconvenience among employees,” he added.
Rodriguez said members of Congress could not wait until May 4 to reconvene because of an urgent need for them to pass the proposed P1.7 billion fund augmentation that would allow the Department of Health to procure badly needed personal protective equipment for health workers and other supplies.
He also said they would also need to tackle the proposed stimulus packages for workers affected by the community quarantine in Metro Manila and other assistance for local government units and small businesses suffering from dwindling numbers of patrons because of COVID-19.
The lawmaker has filed three bills to date seeking a total of P23 billion in assistance for those affected by the coronavirus; namely: P3 billion for distressed workers, P10 billion for small tourism-oriented establishments and another P10 billion for other small and medium-scale businesses.
“If we wait for May 4 to consider these measures, it might be too late to help the affected sectors,” he said.
He said most congressmen had supported House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s suggestion to work during the break. Congress adjourned its session for the Lenten recess on Wednesday night.
Rodriguez said he wanted colleagues to deliberate on the three House bills he proposed to assist those sectors affected by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV 2.
The bills included HB 6612 which proposed a P10 billion appropriation to fund the emergency tourism stimulus program of the Department of Tourism to mitigate the effects of Covid-10 in the tourism sector; HB 6613 proposing the appropriation of P3 billion as an emergency employment program for wage earners; and HB 6614 for an appropriation of P10 billion for the country’s business sector.
The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a pandemic since it has infected more than 150,000 people and killed nearly 6,000 all over the world. The Philippines has so far confirmed 140 people with COVID-19, including 11 deaths.