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From the government sector, Flerida Ruth Romero, Secretary of the 1986 Constitutional Commission, now Supreme Court Justice, and Purificacion Quisumbing, Professor of Law at the University of the Philippines and ranking official of the UN Commission on Human Rights, heartily welcomed the CRTS. Members of Congress, including then Congressman Raul Roco, as well as Arlene Dada Arnaldo, Committee Secretary for the House Committee on Rules, were also encouraging.

Not everyone was as optimistic. Richard Fuller of The Asia Foundation was at first hesitant to commit the Foundation to funding the infant organization. The Asia Foundation was already involved in strengthening the Philippine Congress through a grant supporting the Secretariats of the House and Senate. And it was, after all, a very big secretariat supporting the Philippine Congress. Furthermore, De La Salle (DLSU) had no track record in training for legislation. It was better known as a training ground for business and engineering.

It didn’t take long, however, to dissolve these reservations. Six months later, The Asia Foundation provided funding support and continued to be CRTS’ funding partner through the years.
From the start, it was clear that CRTS was addressing real needs of members and staff of the new Congress. Its first programs were designed to help newly recruited staff face the task of drafting bills, conducting social research and opinion polls, and producing publications.

An assessment of the other training needs later revealed that the staff knew very little about the legislative process itself, including promotion of bills, the committee system, floor deliberations, and documentation of Congressional proceedings. CRTS responded by providing seminars that equipped the staff to handle such activities. <>