Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III suspended the chamber’s Monday session after a fire struck the Senate building in Pasay City early Sunday.
Senate Secretary Renato Bantug said the session hall experienced water seepage due to the suppression efforts used to contain the blaze. He said the fire specifically affected the office of the Legislative Technical Affairs Bureau on the third floor.
Bantug noted that, upon Sotto’s instruction, the 30th session will instead be gaveled in at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2.
Sotto also directed the Senate Secretariat and Senate Proper offices to operate on a skeleton workforce on Monday. He said reduced manpower would allow cleanup operations and equipment checks to proceed without interruption.
The advisory stated that most Secretariat and Proper employees are not required to report for work. Only personnel from the Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office and the Maintenance and General Services Bureau must report unless instructed otherwise.
Bantug added that Senate Proper staff may or may not be required to report depending on their principals’ directives. He reiterated that all other Secretariat employees need not report unless they receive specific instructions.
The fire broke out early Sunday and was quickly contained by Pasay firefighters.
Sotto assured the public that all Senate documents, including records from the Blue Ribbon Committee, remain safe. Dani Lagman