The Manila Times
MANILA, Philippines — Several Cabinet officials and other stakeholders have been invited to the House of Representatives that will hold a joint hearing on Wednesday to fast-track measures that will ease fuel costs for Filipinos amid the ongoing war in the Middle East. Ways and Means Committee Chairman and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo will preside over the first hearing of an expanded panel tasked to craft a unified legislative response to the crisis. The inquiry comes after Speaker Faustino Dy 3rd directed the committees to "consolidate data, coordinate with the Executive, and produce concrete policy interventions addressing both immediate relief and long-term resilience." Expected to be discussed in the hearing is country’s oil and energy supply situation amid tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, as well as the broader economic impact, government response, and proposed courses of action. Expected to attend are Energy Secretary Sharon Garin, Finance Secretary Frederick Go, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro, and Budget Secretary Rolando Toledo. Also invited by the panel were Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Francis Saturnino Juan, National Electrification Administration Administrator Antonio Mariano Almeda, Philippine National Oil Company representative Ma. Cristina Sheila Cabaraban, and PNOC-Exploration Corporation official Adrian Ferdinand Sugay. Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Charlito Martin Mendoza, Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno, and National Treasurer Sharon Almanza were also invited. Officials from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and National Tax Research Center are also set to attend, alongside representatives from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
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