Citing the need for transparency, Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Tuesday pushed for the posting online of President Rodrigo Duterte’s weekly reports on efforts to address the COVID-19 situation.
Lacson said he and his fellow senators in the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee started poring over the report, which was given to Senate President Vicente Sotto III at 4 a.m. Tuesday.
“Ngayon even as we speak binabasa namin, at may instruction ako sa staff ko kasi suggest ko kay SP matapos namin mabasa, submit namin sa kanya ang aming komentaryo at recommendation para consolidate niya, tapos post namin sa Senate website para maging virtual oversight committee public hearing. Para malaman ng publiko ano opinion at sentiment ng member ng Congress,” Lacson said in an interview on DZBB and GMA News TV.
“Katatanggap ko ng email galing kay SP, sabi niya natanggap niya kaninang 4 a.m. Kaya lang nag-struggle kami ng staff ko basahin kasi scanned copy lang,” he said.
He noted the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which Duterte signed into law last week, requires the President to submit a weekly progress report to Congress.
Lacson said the review of the Executive Department’s implementation will determine if Congress should withdraw the powers granted to Duterte to deal with the problem.
If lawmakers see there are powers Duterte does not need, it can withdraw them accordingly.
“So kailangan i-review namin ang implementation para kung saan nakikita naming hindi na kailangang mag-implement pa, pwede na withdraw-in. Ganoon ang sistema noon kaya nagkaroon ng joint oversight committee,” he said.
