Duterte mulls calling for Congress special session

Worried by the situation in the Middle East, President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday he is thinking of calling for a special session of Congress to allocate standby funds to aid Filipino workers there in case the situation worsens.

“I’m tinkering with the idea of calling for a special session of Congress…Ngayon I suggest that Congress even for about ... bahala na kung one or two days ... discuss the problems, the ramifications,” Duterte said in his speech after signing the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020.

“If there is a thing that we would need on standby that the government can get immediately, source it from where so  hat we can use the money immediately,” he added.

Present during the event were Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, and other members of Congress.

Duterte admitted that he is worried about the welfare of the Filipinos in the Middle East.

“Kinakabahan ako. Iran seems to be bent on a retaliation which I think will come in a matter of time. There is much hurt…retaliation or cry for blood is there. I don’t worry, were it not for a fact that there are a lot of Filipinos there and it would take us a huge gargantuan effort just in case it breaks out, how to bring them back safely,” he said.

He added that he already alerted the military to ready their assets for the repatriation.

“I called for the major commanders yesterday and told them of the gravity of the situation and told them they have to start (preparing their assets). There is no such thing as minimalist view here. It’s fraught with danger and I’m afraid for the lives of our countrymen in jeopardy,” he said.

He said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez told him that the government has enough money but the authorization from Congress is needed before it could be used.

The President said Congress could give the money to a committee as he does not want to handle it.

“We might want to place it in a hands of a committee kasi ayaw ko magkuwenta ako with that huge amount, I don’t want to be bothered by that kind of… we need billions there standby lang. Calculate what would be the calibrated withdrawals,” he said.

“I’m not as bright as others, those with strategic minds, they might want to do it for us. Let’s start with a standby fund. I said to everybody, I’m very allergic…I don’t want to hold it.  We might want to get men with integrity and probity, they could be the disbursing body there,” he added.

He added Congress can put safeguards to avoid corruption in the disbursement of fund.

Sotto said the special session would depend on the  outcome of the command conference the President will call tomorrow (Tuesday).

"(It is) possible. It will depend on the outcome of his command conference tomorrow night," he said in a text message to GMA News Online. — RSJ, GMA News