House ready to work on priority bills to bring back normalcy on economy

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. (Screengrab from RTVM)

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives is ready to work on President Rodrigo Duterte’s remaining priority measures to prepare Filipinos for the reopening of the economy and bringing back normalcy to our economy, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said Tuesday.

Velasco said the House “must heed the call” of Duterte to bring back normalcy in the lives of Filipinos and help the economy recover in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The House of Representatives is ready to help and cooperate with President Duterte in pushing for pieces of legislation that will help navigate the country and the economy amid the ongoing pandemic,” Velasco said in a statement following Duterte’s final SONA.

“We must not only ensure that our economy is ready to reopen, but more importantly we must prepare our people for this reopening. We must help our people feel confident that they will have jobs and livelihood opportunities, and assured that cure and proper health care will always be available when they need it,” he added.

In his final SONA, Duterte urged lawmakers to pass the military and uniformed personnel pension reform bill, as well as the measure providing free legal assistance to law enforcers.

To make the Philippines resilient to future pandemics, Duterte also asked Congress to pass measures establishing the Philippines’ Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDPC) and a virology institute.

He also raised the amendments of priority legislative measures such as the Foreign Investments Act, the Public Service Act, and the Retail and Trade Liberalization Act.

“In the final stretch of the Duterte presidency, the House of Representatives of the 18th Congress is committed to pursue the remaining measures in the President’s legislative agenda, with focus on strengthening the country’s health care system and restoring jobs lost to the pandemic,” Velasco said.

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JPV