House, Senate leaders meet weeks after Velasco assumes Speakership

House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Thursday said congressional leaders are working on a common legislative agenda for the remaining 20 months of the 18th Congress. 

The informal caucus was held in a hotel in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, Nov. 4, Velasco said, noting that he is looking forward to a "new era of cooperation" between the two chambers.

"We look forward to a very good working relationship between the House and the Senate as both chambers strive to ensure the remaining sessions of the 18th Congress will be fruitful and productive," he told reporters in a statement.

"We consider the senators as vital partners, allies and friends, and we thank the Senate leadership for this productive meeting," he said.

The House and the Senate leaders who attended the meeting were: Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Finance Committee chair Sonny Angara, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, House Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, House Committee on Appropriations chair Eric Yap and House Minority Leader Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also joined the meeting via videoconference, the House Speaker said.

Velasco did not give specific targets set by the lawmakers, but said that President Rodrigo Duterte "can rely on Congress to help him fulfill his promises to our people before his term ends" in 2022.

"We take seriously his call to put an end to systemic corruption, and we will work together with our fellow lawmakers to come up with legislation to help our overseas Filipino workers, farmers and fisherfolk," Velasco said.

Among the legislative measures mentioned in Duterte's previous State of the Nation Address (SONA) are the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act, Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing System Act, and the bill creating the Department of Overseas Filipinos.

The House also asked the Senate to prioritize the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Workers to support barangay frontliners, as well as the proposed Internet Transactions Act that seeks to protect consumers, especially with the increase in online transactions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Velasco said.

As for the 2021 national budget, Velasco said he is confident that the spending bill would be passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law before the year ends to prevent a reenacted spending program that could slow economic growth and hamper the delivery of government services. 

"We have a good working relationship with the Senate, and everyone is united," he said.

"The House and Senate leaderships were both in agreement that the national budget should be approved as soon as possible," he added.

The House transmitted the approved copy of the proposed P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget to the Senate on October 27, about a month later than the original deadline, but a day ahead of an adjusted schedule after a power struggle between Velasco and ousted Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

The record-high budget was designed to further strengthen government response and stimulate economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/05/20/house-senate-leaders-meet-weeks-after-velasco-assumes-speakership

Pangangaroling, iminungkahing ipagbawal dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic

Iminungkahi sa Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) na ipagbawal muna ang pangangaroling ngayong Pasko sa pangambang maaari itong magdulot ng pagkalat ng COVID-19.

Batay sa ulat ni Raffy Tima sa GMA News TV "Balitanghali" nitong Huwebes, si Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba ang nagbigay ng panukala.

"Karamihan kasi ng carolers namin dito, they are not even from our place. 'Yung pagpupunta nila from one house to the other, natatakot kami doon because it might cause the upsurge of COVID cases," sabi ni Mamba.

Dagdag ng gobernador, kakaunti lamang ang COVID-19 cases sa kanilang lalawigan kumpara sa ibang lugar sa bansa, kaya gusto nila itong mapanatili.

Ayon pa kay Mamba, maaari namang magbigay ng kautusan ang mga LGU pero iba pa rin kung manggagaling mismo ang kautusan sa IATF.

"At least they know that there is a medical and scientific basis of what we are trying to ask dahil ang hirap nito eh, it's a... tradisyon ito eh na ginagawa every year," ani Mamba.

Suportado ni IATF chief implementer at vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez ang panukala ni Mamba.

Ayon kay Galvez, isasama niya ito sa mga pag-uusapan sa IATF. Gayunman, maaari nang mag-issue ng ganitong kautusan kung nanaisin ng gobernador na ipagbawal ang pangangaroling.

"It is the prerogative of the LGU because we have said, the Local Government Executives are the most knowledgeable people that can protect their constituents, what is best for them," sabi ni Galvez.

Nauna naman nang napagkasunduan ng Metro Manila mayors na ipagbawal ang mga Christmas Party ngayong taon dahil pa rin sa pandemya.—Jamil Santos/AOL, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/ulatfilipino/762898/pangangaroling-iminungkahing-ipagbawal-dahil-sa-covid-19-pandemic/story/

Musings of a Plantito - Kape't Pandasal kasama si Fr Kali Llamado

Here Is The Shortcut To Peace

 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.  Psalm 16:7

For the person who understands that the circumstances of life are never bigger than God, there is a short‑cut to peace in life.  It is one of the few shortcuts that you will ever experience in life that can save you a lot of pain and turmoil. It is learning the secret of praise and thanksgiving.  "Thanksgiving for what?" you may think?  For the fact that I am so depressed I'm looking up to see the bottom?  Thankful that my job ended when there aren't many jobs available for people my age?  Thankful that my wife of 18 years left me for another?

I'm not going to just glibly tell you, "Hey, this too shall pass," trying to make you feel better.  No.  Let's take a moment and take a hard look at the paradox of giving thanks in time of difficulty.  First: The New Testament suggests that thanksgiving and praise are matters of your will, not your emotions.  When trouble leads to discouragement and discouragement to depression, the last thing that you feel like doing is to look up and praise God for anything, right?  Maybe shake your fist in anger, yes! Sometimes we really feel like that.  Blame God for not intervening, perhaps.  A lot of people do just that.  But praise?  "For what?" we ask ourselves.

The first step in breaking through the gloom of your difficulty is to understand that what you are doing is right, if not necessarily what makes you feel good.  Do it in simple, straightforward obedience to Scripture that says, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Second, you will never be so far removed from God that you cannot focus your thoughts on the nature and character of God and say, "Thank you, God, for who you are and what you are."  Far too much of our relationship with God is experience‑oriented.  We praise God when we feel happy and things are going smoothly.  But in prison, Paul and Silas sang praise to God.  David, the Psalmist, knew what difficulty and trouble were about, yet he said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).

No matter how low you feel, no matter what has happened to you, you can yet center your thoughts on the faithfulness of God, upon the fact that He knows your heart and that He will accept you and that His love is not dependent upon your goodness. You can take heart in the fact that the injustices of life are temporary and that someday there will be a final day of reckoning.

Zephaniah, one of the minor prophets of Old Testament days, lived in a period of great turmoil and distress.  To people who were facing their fair share of difficulty, he wrote, "The Lord your God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; you [paraphrased] will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17, KJV).

That phrase, "you will rest in His love" is interesting.  Faced with trouble, it is easy to forget that He loves you, so having made the decision to give thanks, begin to quietly do so, knowing His love is an unchanging constant.  You can thank Him that He can still take the fractured, broken pieces of your life and put them together again.  He knows your pain and hurt, and yes, no matter what happens, He is bigger than the need that confronts you.

Praise is the shortcut to peace.  Yes, in every situation, in every circumstance of life, we can still give thanks, for He is worthy of praise. It is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Resource reading: Acts 16:1-40

https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/here-is-the-shortcut-to-peace/