House members called out Senator Joel Villanueva for belittling the party-list representatives and by extension, the House of Representatives, as well as gravely misrepresenting the nature of the two houses, which comprise Congress.
In a privilege speech, Lanao del Sur Representative Zia Alonto Adiong said the senator gravely misrepresented the nature of the two houses which compose Congress.
“Siya po ay nagkakamali sa pangmamaliit sa mga party-list representatives. Mr. Speaker, the 1987 Constitution vests legislative power in one Congress. Iisang kongreso, shared between the House of Representatives and the Senate,” Adiong explained.
The legislator added that the House of Representatives carefully oversees the local concerns of the districts, while the Senate focuses on broader matters.
“Ang mga terminong mataas at mababang kapulungan ay ‘di nahahanap sa Konstitusyon.”
“Ang mga terminong mataas at mababang kapulungan ay ‘di nahahanap sa Konstitusyon. These are terms adopted as a matter of convening, considering that there was a time the Philippine Congress shared one building in which the Senate occupied the upper floors, (the) House of Representative occupied the lower floors,” the lawmaker stressed.
He explained that the current party-list system, which Villanueva has maligned, was created expressly to lend a voice to the voiceless. It is an innovation that the Supreme Court elaborated in the case of Atong Paglaum vs. Comelec.
“The innovation is a party-list system that would expand opportunities for electoral participation to allow those who could not win the legislative district elections a fair chance to enter the House of Representatives other than through the district election system,” Adiong emphasized.
He said Villanueva should be knowledgeable of this since he himself was a party-list representative for a time.
“We are all equal public servants and only the people are superior to us.”
“I cannot accept that a statesman such as himself would hold such a myopic and tyrannic view of the legislative branch. We are all equal public servants and only the people are superior to us. Tayong mga kongresista at mga senador ay parehong miyembro ng isang 19th Congress,” Adiong said.
He asserted that the upper and lower houses serve as mutual safeguards to one another, and that one cannot exist without the other.
“Magkaakibat ang dalawang parte ng Kongreso sa pagpasa ng mga batas na ikakabuti ng ating bansa,” Adiong said.
He also stated that disagreements between the two Houses must and should be managed constructively, and that a divided House weakens the ability to respond effectively to the challenges, hinder progress and realization of the shared vision for a better country.
The presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Duke Frasco thanked Adiong for standing up for the House and its members.
