House Speaker Faustino Dy III has directed the conduct of joint committee hearings during the congressional break to craft a comprehensive proposal aimed at mitigating the effects of the Middle East crisis on the Philippines.
“We are holding these joint hearings to make sure that the initiatives of the Legislative branch are coordinated with the Executive and are properly targeted and forward-looking. Ang kailangan natin ngayon ay malinaw na plano—hindi lang para sa ngayon, kundi para sa mga susunod na buwan at taon,” said Dy.
The Speaker emphasized the importance of gathering insights from economic managers and frontline agencies to ensure responsive measures.
“We want to hear directly from our economic managers and frontline agencies so we have the information we need to come up with measures that can help our people cope with the impact of the Middle East conflict,” he added.
Dy clarified that the hearings are not intended to assign blame but to strengthen collaboration with the Executive branch.
“Hindi natin kontrolado ang nangyayari sa labas ng bansa, pero kontrolado natin kung paano tayo tutugon sa mga hamong ito. Ang mahalaga, handa tayo, mabilis tayo, at sama-sama tayo sa paghahanap ng solusyon,” he stressed.
The committees tasked to lead the hearings include Energy (Jose Alvarez), Agriculture (Wilfrido Enverga), Aquaculture and Fisheries (Hori Horibata), Foreign Affairs (Maria Rachel Arenas), Ways and Means (Miro Quimbo), Labor and Employment (Jolo Revilla), Transportation (Franz Pumaren), Information and Communications Technology (Migz Villafuerte), Economic Affairs (AA Legarda), and Social Services (Cheeno Almario).