MANILA, Philippines — The legislative branch now has its set of Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) bills that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants passed by December 2023.
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) chief Amenah Pangandaman said that following the Ledac meeting which included the heads of the two chambers, House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Miguel Zubiri, it was agreed upon that there are 18 priority bills for the second Ledac, which include:
1. Amendments of the Build-Operate-Transfer Law/ Public-Private Partnership bill
2. National Disease Prevention Management Authority
3. Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law
4. Medical Reserve Corps
5. Virology Institute of the Philippines
6. Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program
7. Revitalizing the Salt Industry
8. Valuation Reform
9. E-Government/E-Governance Act
10. Ease of Paying Taxes
11. National Government Rightsizing Program
12. Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel Services
13. Local Government Unit Income Classification
14. Waste to Energy bill
15. New Philippine Passport Act
16. Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers
17. National Employment Action Plan
18. Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act
The DBM said that the aforementioned proposals were carried over from the first set of Ledac bills, with only two additional bills.
Pangandaman also said that there are “two new bills proposed by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Bank Deposit Secrecy bill. Apparently, we’re the only country left in the world who hasn’t passed bank secrecy. It is only Lebanon and the Philippines. But Lebanon passed it last year. So we need to have one. And the Anti-financial Account Scamming Act or the AFASA bill.”
The DBM chief explained that the Bank Deposit Secrecy bill can help during money laundering cases or if court cases need evidence or documents. The information could be shared by the BSP with the Securities Exchanges Commission, Department of Justice, Anti-Money Laundering Council, and other courts and agencies.
The AFASA, meanwhile, could be used to deter cybercriminals, she said.
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