Joint session is like unicameral ‘rehearsal’ - Nograles

If there’s one thing the ongoing joint session of the Congress has achieved so far, it is to give House Speaker Prospero Nograles a glimpse of what a unicameral Congress looks and feels like. And Nograles, a proponent of Charter change at the House of Representatives, liked what he saw. "I am more convinced that we should be unicameral," he said Thursday. "It's more orderly, and we tackle a lot of things faster." He said Wednesday’s joint session on the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao made them experience "a rehearsal of what it could be if we are unicameral." Nograles said one congressional body achieves more since voting would only have to be done once. Under the current set-up, the Senate and the House separately deliberate and vote on proposed legislation, after which a bicameral meeting or meetings will be held to reconcile their respective versions of the a passed bill. Nograles, however, assured that the joint session would not divert from the martial law issue in Maguindanao. "There will be no extraneous matters to be taken up except the report," Nograles said at a press briefing Wednesday, referring to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's report on her declaration of martial law over the province. The Senate and the House are currently in the middle of a joint session on Proclamation 1959, which placed Maguindanao province under martial rule and suspended the writ of habeas corpus within the province except for certain areas. President Arroyo issued Proclamation 1959 nearly two weeks after the November 23 massacre in Maguindanao where at least 57 people, including 30 journalists, were killed. Congress, in a joint session, can revoke Proclamation 1959 with a majority vote. With 268 House members and 23 senators, at least 147 votes are needed to lift martial law in Maguindanao. - KBK, GMANews.TV