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I was a member of the House of Representatives for nine years, from 1992 to 2001. I was always been a proud member of the lower chamber especially during the 11th Congress which I had the honor of leading as a speaker from July 27, 1998, to November 13, 2000. I was proud of our legislative output and how we collectively faced the challenges of history and proved that we were really the People’s House.

It looks like the economic lull brought about by the pandemic will take a bit longer than expected. As we adapt to the “new normal,” we should use this pause to strengthen our infrastructure and increase our public investments to ensure we are in the best position to rebound from the crisis.

It has been almost 7 months since the government imposed a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was March 15 when a General Community Quarantine (GCQ) was first implemented. Since then we have experienced ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine), MECQ (Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine), and MGCQ (Modified General Community Quarantine). Regardless of the acronyms, the fact is that it has devastated our people’s health and livelihood.