Members of the House of Representatives will convene on Monday for the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress at 10am, with the election of the new Speaker expected to highlight the event.
As provided for in Article VI, Sections 15 and 16 of the 1987 Constitution, the Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session and the Senate shall elect its President and the House of Representatives its Speaker, by a majority vote of all its respective Members. Each House shall choose such other officers as it may deem necessary.
During the past 17th Congress, the Rules of the House provided that in the first Meeting and organization of the House, the Members shall meet and proceed to the organization of the House on the fourth Monday of July immediately following their election at the place designated for the holding of their sessions.
The Rules further provided that the Secretary General of the immediately preceding Congress shall preside over the inaugural session of the House until the election of a new Speaker. As presiding officer, the Secretary General shall call the session to order, call the roll of Members by provinces, cities and municipalities comprising districts, and by party-lists in alphabetical order, designate an acting Floor Leader, and preserve order and decorum.
The Rules also provided that after the designation of an acting Floor Leader, the body shall proceed to the election of the Speaker. The Speaker shall be elected by a majority vote of all the Members through a roll call vote with Members casting their vote without explanation. After the oath-taking of the newly-elected Speaker, the body shall proceed to the adoption of the rules of the immediately preceding Congress to govern its proceedings until the approval and adoption of the rules of the current Congress.
In tomorrow’s opening session, the elected Speaker is expected to give his traditional Acceptance Speech to thank his colleagues and bare his legislative priorities in the 18th Congress.
House Members are also expected to pass a resolution informing President Rodrigo Duterte that the House has convened and organized, and is ready to receive the President and hear the SONA.
In the afternoon, the Senate and the House will convene in a Joint Session to hear the President’s SONA at 4pm.
In his latest SONA Advisory for the Honorable Members, and House officials and employees, House Acting Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling said all House Members are requested to attend the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 18th Congress which will start promptly at 10am.
The prescribed attire inside the Plenary Hall for House Members shall be business attire (for ladies and gentlemen) or Filipiniana dress (for ladies) and Barong Filipino (for gentlemen).
Secretariat employees and congressional staff who are assigned inside the Plenary Hall are required to wear Barong Filipino or business attire for the gentlemen( long sleeves polo shirt) and for the ladies, business attire/ blouse and skirt or dress with sleeves (with blazer).
Filipino tenor and Broadway singer Arman Ferrer is expected to sing the Philippine National Anthem “Lupang Hinirang” both at the opening of the session in the morning and the Joint Session for the SONA in the afternoon.
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO), the country's leading orchestra and one of the top musical ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region, is set to play several original Pilipino music (OPM) and provide the accompaniment to Ferrer in the Joint Session.
For the second time, Malacanang tapped award-winning film and television director Joyce Bernal to direct this year’s SONA. Bernal hopes that this year’s SONA will be hopeful, lively and grand./ Rowena B. Bundang, News and Document Section-Press and Public Affairs Bureau/ House of Representatives of the Philippines
http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=11618
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