Congressional leaders ready to hold special session over Mideast tension

January 7, 2020

Congressional leaders said they are ready to hold a special session to pass a supplemental budget to repatriate Filipinos in the Middle East.

Senate Majority Leader Jose Miguel Zubiri said the Senate are prepared to meet the request of President Rodrigo Duterte to hold a special session anytime.

Zubiri added that Duterte can also use for the meantime billions of pesos of contingency funds in the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, available for repatriation immediately.

''Those funds are readily available for these emergencies," Zubiri  added.

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said  the House is ready to hold a special session to ensure quick and safe repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who will be affected by the conflict between the United States and Iran.

Romualdez, who chairs the House committee on rules, said the House leadership under Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano is still awaiting for Malacañang’s formal communication on the possible special session that President Rodrigo Duterte aired last Monday when he signed into law the P4.1 trillion General Appropriations Act.

“The House of Representatives is ready to accede to President Duterte’s request for Congress to convene in a special session to help= map out contingency plans related to the ongoing tension in the Middle East,” said Romualdez.

Congress is on a month-long Christmas break and will resume session on January 20. DMS