House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy has convened an emergency meeting of key committee leaders to orchestrate a unified legislative response to the ongoing oil price crisis, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Miro Quimbo announced Tuesday, March 31.
Quimbo, representing Marikina City's 2nd District, said the high-level meeting aimed to synchronize the efforts of the chamber in addressing the immediate impact of rising fuel costs while building long-term national stability.
"The sole purpose is really to have an orchestrated and unified response on the part of the House to see what we can do on an urgent basis to address this oil price crisis," Quimbo said.
Speaker Dy has designated a specialized cluster of 13 committees to tackle the issue, including Energy, Agriculture, Ways and Means, Labor, Transportation, and Economic Affairs.
Rep. Quimbo noted that the group is tasked with gathering data to craft a "comprehensive package" of legislation, which may include a supplemental budget to fund assistance for affected sectors.
The lawmaker emphasized a "two-pronged" strategy focused on both immediate relief and future-proofing the economy.
"The Speaker’s instruction was first to find the most urgent things we can do, particularly assistance to affected sectors," Quimbo said. "Secondly, it is about creating better resiliency. We want a short-term plan and a long-term plan, so the country is ready if a similar crisis happens in the future," he stated.
Quimbo acknowledged that the current spike in oil prices is driven by external global forces rather than domestic policy, describing it as a crisis that is "not at all self-inflicted."
"It is completely coming from forces beyond our control, but it does not mean that we cannot prepare for it," he added.
According to Quimbo, Speaker Dy urged lawmakers to move past political finger-pointing and focus on technical solutions. The objective is to ensure the Philippine economy "will not bow down or fall to its knees" when faced with international market volatility.
The 13 committees involved in the initiative also include Aquaculture and Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Social Services, Trade and Industry, Overseas Workers Affairs, and Appropriations.
