In a recent survey of 1,698 congressional staff and secretariat members, 88% or 1,481 of these individuals object to the Congress relocation to BGC, Taguig, even if the rationale behind this move is to be closer to the Senate.
Only twelve percent, or 208 employees of the House of Representatives, agree with the proposed relocation.
Of those who participated in the survey, 516 were congressional staff while 1,182 were part of the secretariat serving over 300 congressmen who hold office in the Batasan Pambansa in Quezon City.
The survey results were presented on January 22 during a hearing of the House Ad Hoc Committee on the Proposed Relocation of the House of Representatives Complex.
Previously, the president of the Congressional Staff Association, Vincent Borneo, announced their opposition to the relocation of the House of Representatives offices to the new location.
"The Senate is relocating its offices to a new building, now nearing completion, in the Bonifacio Global City (BGC). There is a proposal to relocate offices of the House to the same area or a nearby location. However, it must be noted that the Senate decided to construct a new building in BGC because, since 1997, it has been renting office space at the GSIS Building in Pasay City. This is not the case for the House," Borneo stated in his letter to Camarines Sur Representative LRay Villafuerte, the Ad Hoc panel chairman.
"The House and Senate holding office in the same building or within close proximity does not address gridlock - whether in traffic or legislative work. It is the nature of a bicameral legislature that the two chambers, regardless of distance, will perform their functions separately and independently, except in cases where joint voting and/or joint session is required," Borneo added.
According to him, communication between the Senate and the House can be facilitated through modern technology, thus there is no need for their offices to be close to each other.
(Photos by Vera Victoria)
