Reyes, Pangelinan offer aid on market resolution

Senate Vice President Pete P. Reyes and Sen. Maria T. Pangelinan have offered their assistance in redrafting the Senate resolution that seeks to persuade the Fitial administration in approving the Garapan Fishing Base as the site for a future farmer’s market.

S.R. 15-12 is authored by freshman legislator Luis Crisostimo.

Reyes argued that his and Pangelinan’s assistance in redrafting the measure would give it “more credibility and standing.”

“Our position on this resolution is very clear,” said Reyes. “I stated on the record that I have signed the petition supporting Garapan Fishing Base as the venue for the public market. I want this resolution to pass as quickly as possible so that the Governor may be made aware of the Senate’s official position on this issue. However, as the resolution is currently written it lacks substance and fails to provide a convincing argument to persuade the Administration to reverse its stance.”

“Senator Crisostimo has not been successful in drafting any substantial legislation during his term in the legislature. I do not want to see this resolution go by the wayside, as his past bills and resolutions have. …This matter is too important. …Those who have signed the petition deserve better than this, and Senator Pangelinan and I have offered to help Crisostimo redraft his resolution,” he added.

Reyes said the Senate has no intention of shelving the resolution. “On the contrary we only want to make it stronger so that it may gain wider acceptance. Our concerns with the resolution are that it fails to address some very important issues in regards to the operation of the future Garapan Fishing Base Public Market and it is weakly written.”

He said the Senate referred the resolution back to committee so that this may be addressed, and to strengthen the argument to give it more credence and force.

“I understand that this is Senator Crisostimo’s freshman term and we want to assist him as much as possible when we are taking the same position on an issue. Unfortunately, Senator Crisostimo has had difficulty digesting deliberations on the Senate floor. Apparently he has misunderstood our intentions. Whether this was purposeful or not is unclear. However, by misconstructing our remarks he undermines his objective of gaining support for his resolution,” added Reyes.

The Senate vice president also reminded Crisostimo that he is not helping his cause when he consistently flip-flops on matters before the Senate.

“It minimizes his credibility and leaves the impression that he does not have a clear understanding of the issues before him. My advice to Senator Crisostomo is to focus harder during Senate debate, concentrate on the legislation before him, and do his best not to get side-tracked on trivial matters.” (PR)