MANILA -- The Makabayan bloc on Tuesday said it wants the House of Representatives to return to completely face-to-face plenary sessions as the coronavirus pandemic wanes.

Led by House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, the bloc filed House Resolution 859 urging the House of Representatives to return to full face-to-face plenary sessions, citing the right of the people to information on matters of public concern, the constitutional principles of transparency of all acts of public officials and proceedings of government agencies, and accountability to the people of the House and all its Members.

"It is unfortunate and ironic that while the country has mandated all school-age children from the youngest kindergarten pupil to the oldest college student and all workers and employees in public and private offices and workplaces to return to pre-pandemic face-to-face reporting, this is not so with the Members of the House of Representatives," Castro said.

Castro noted that the House is still implementing Rule XII, entitled “Conduct of Plenary Sessions through Electronic Platforms,” which it began to implement during the 18th Congress when the number of COVID cases are still high and many areas are in Alert Levels 3 to 5 (high to alarming case counts).

"Di ba medyo nakakahiya na ang mga batang paslit ay naka-face-to-face na mula pa nung isang taon habang ang mga kinatawan naman ay naka-zoom pa din?" Castro noted.

"Sana ay pakinggan ito ng liderato ng Kamara upang mas malaman din ng mamamayan ang nangyayari sa loob mismo ng Batasan," Castro also said.

HR 859 cites that the current system that allows the "attendance" of Members via a virtual platform skirts or defeats several requirements imposed by the Constitution.

"Under these rules, practices, and situations, the quorum—the precondition required by the Constitution for all businesses to be validly conducted by the House— is hardly established to the satisfaction of the public. The possibility of insufficiency of the representation of the interests of the people is also rife," it said.