House of Representatives Advances Plenary Sessions Timing
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives will begin its plenary sessions an hour earlier at 2:00 p.m., instead of the usual 3:00 p.m., until committee chairpersons and members are fully organized, Majority Floor Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos announced on Wednesday. This change aims to speed up the legislative process during this initial phase of Congress.
Marcos explained in a video message to reporters that the original 3:00 p.m. start time allowed lawmakers to attend committee hearings earlier in the day. However, since many committees are still incomplete and bills remain unassigned, no hearings are scheduled, enabling plenary sessions to start sooner.
Reason for Earlier Plenary Sessions
“Well, the logic behind session starting at three usually is because there are committee hearings at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Given the fact that the House is in the process of organizing itself by appointing its chairpersons, its members to the committees, and, of course, going through the bills that were filed before the resumption of session, we have a lot on our plate right now,” Marcos said.
He added, “In order to expedite that, I thought it would be prudent for the House to start session at two instead of three. I mean it’s not a big change but we can do a lot more with that time and a lot more can be done within that one hour time span. So that was the logic between moving session back to 2:00 p.m.”
Temporary Measure Until Full Organization
Marcos emphasized that the earlier plenary sessions are only temporary until all leadership positions and committee assignments are finalized.
“It’s just until the House gets organized. It’s really like that on the first week of Congress. It’s not yet fully functional because we are still appointing chairpersons. We are still appointing members of the committees, and the bills filed by our members are still being referred,” he noted.
“So it’s not going to be a regular occurrence, but just in the interest of productivity until we get everything organized, we’ll be starting at two,” Marcos reiterated.
Progress in Committee Appointments
The earlier plenary sessions began on Wednesday as Marcos moved to elect additional lawmakers to lead various committees. Still, several standing House committees remain without chairpersons, including agrarian reform, disaster resilience, ecology, ethics and privileges, flagship programs and projects, government enterprises and privatization, government reorganization, health, indigenous cultural committees and indigenous peoples, local government, Mindanao affairs, Muslim affairs, overseas workers affairs, people’s participation, population and family relations, poverty alleviation, public accounts, senior citizens, social services, suffrage and electoral reforms, sustainable development goals, veterans affairs and welfare, Visayas development, welfare of children, and women and gender equality.
On Tuesday, the first batch of committee chairpersons was named. Notably, Nueva Ecija 1st District Representative Mikaela Angela Suansing was elected chairperson of the House committee on appropriations for the 20th Congress.
Suansing takes the appropriations post following the president’s recent warning during his fourth State of the Nation Address. The president cautioned both House and Senate members that he would not approve any national budget proposal not aligned with the administration’s priorities—even if it meant continuing a re-enacted budget.
These developments signal a focused effort to organize the House efficiently and ensure lawmakers can proceed with their duties effectively during this early session period, local leaders noted.
For more news and updates on House of Representatives plenary sessions, visit Filipinokami.com.
