Romualdez assures Bongbong Marcos of support against climate change

FILE PHOTO: Climate Change

MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has assured President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of support in the fight against climate change, saying the House of Representatives could fine-tune the proposed 2023 budget for it.

Romualdez, a member of the President’s delegation to the 29th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok, Thailand, said Friday that if the Senate passes its version of the proposed national budget, the House can still amend the General Appropriations Bill for 2023.

The Speaker gave the assurance after the President mentioned at the summit that addressing the harmful effects of climate change, along with solving food security and global health system issues will be important for rapid growth.

“We totally agree with the President’s assessment that these issues present serious obstacles on our path to recovery. He can count on the unwavering support of the House for the passage of measures addressing these issues of concern,” Romualdez said.

“In the bicameral conference committee, after the Senate has approved its own version of the proposed 2023 budget, we can help fine-tune the funding of concerned agencies to build their capacities at addressing these pressing problems,” he added.

Romualdez said some of the President’s concerns were already addressed in previous meetings, including the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) priority measures that were discussed during the first Legislative-Executive Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting last October 10.

He added that bills focusing on the creation of a Department of Water Resources, Land Use Act, and the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries bill, have been filed and are being discussed by the House.

The Speaker also noted that the following bills are being deliberated to help the country in the three-pronged agenda for growth that Marcos mentioned:

Medical Reserve Corps bill
National Disease Prevention Management Authority bill
Virology Institute of the Philippines bill
Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA).

During his turn to speak at the Apec CEO summit, Marcos said the game plan should not be to play catch-up with the pre-pandemic world because it was a “different world.”

“They have to be done structurally because this is a different world. This is a different economy. And as we were discussing in the green room, he says we’re not playing catch-up. And I said, even if we were, what are we trying to catch up to? 2019? I don’t think that that’s the plan,” Marcos said.

“We cannot be too married to the ideas that we were holding as truths before and we have to be willing to make big changes but with the recognition that from what is actually happening around the world,” he added. With reports from Trisha Manalaysay, trainee

READ: Bongbong Marcos to Apec leaders: Allow innovations, ‘make big changes’ 

READ: Marcos meets Xi, pushes Apec health investments

/MUF/abc