QUEZON CITY – The House of Representatives will continue working during the enhanced community quarantine in the Luzon Island.
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano told reporters he and his colleagues would help the administration in informing the public what to do to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
“We will help through communications. We will be holding hearings but not the usual hearings that you watch.
It will be more roundtable style, we will only have four, at most five members of Congress present, we will only have one department at a time and we will start with the Department of Health,” he said.
Cayetano said the House would strictly observe safety and anti-infection protocols like social distancing.
He said an invited Cabinet secretary “will not bring more than five people and I will ask the media to have the same arrangement so that in a hearing room that usually fits 150 to 200 people, we will not have more the 30 to 50 people.”
He added that aside from following government protocols, such a setup would allow resource persons like the secretary of health to effectively communicate what he wants to tell the public about Covid-19 and the enhanced community quarantine.
The Speaker appealed to his colleagues to just send their questions to their committee chairmen so these could be communicated to Duque and other officials who would be asked to attend the hearings.
Cayetano said he and other House leaders would meet with administration officials and representatives of the private sector to discuss economic stimulus measures aimed at aiming affected workers and businesses.
“There are so many proposals being discussed on television and in the media. So we will be meeting with executive officials and the private sector to determine which of these are feasible,” he said.
At the same time, he asked the media to balance their reporting of Covid-19 cases.
“We’re asking media to put into context their reports. Yes, you have to report the increasing number (of cases), but if you can also report those who are recovering from the disease, the positive side…the good news, the containment and mitigation measures the government is taking,” he said.
He urged officials being interviewed should do the same.
“Let us reassure each other, rather than lambaste each other,” Cayetano said.