MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives would act swiftly on the new set of priority bills agreed upon by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac), Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said on Thursday.
Romualdez, in a statement, promised swift action from the House of Representatives by the start of the 2nd Regular Session of the 19th Congress, aiming to pass 20 bills identified by Ledac before the year ends.
The Ledac, headed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., met in Malacañang on Wednesday to set priorities.
“Upon the start of the 2nd Regular Session of the 19th Congress, I, together with the rest of the members of the House of Representatives, will continue our efforts in realizing the President’s vision to greatly improve the Philippine economy, to reduce the prices of everyday commodities, and to increase the purchasing power of every Filipino citizen,” Romualdez said.
“As soon as the start of the 2nd Regular Session of the 19th Congress, we will immediately buckle down to work for the passage of the proposed amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act,” he added.
“Rest assured that the House of the People will remain steadfast and committed to being partners of the Executive Branch to spur economic growth, alleviate poverty, augment healthcare services, and foster job creation for all Filipinos.”
After the Ledac meeting on Wednesday, the set of bills under the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) was released:
- Amendments to the BOT Law/PPP Bill
- National Disease Prevention Management Authority
- Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law
- Medical Reserves Corps
- Virology Institute of the Philippines
- Mandatory ROTC and NSTP
- Revitalizing the Salt Industry
- Valuation Reform
- E-Government/E-Governance
- Ease of Paying Taxes
- National Government Rightsizing Program
- Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of MUPs
- LGU Income Classification
- Waste-to-Energy Bill
- New Philippine Passport Act
- Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers
- National Employment Action Plan
- Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act
- Amendments to the Bank Deposits Secrecy Law (House Bill No. 7446)
- Anti Financial Accounts Scamming Act (House Bill No. 7393)
The last two bills were both suggested by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Likewise,, Romualdez’s office confirmed that of the 20 bills identified by the Ledac, 16 had been approved by the House of Representatives on the third and final reading.
The four that have not been approved yet are bills on the National Rightsizing Program, Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of MUPs, National Employment Action Plan and the Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.
Romualdez earlier said that the House of Representatives would prioritize the amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, especially after the committee on agriculture and food conducted a probe on the alleged hoarding of onions.
The committee’s findings prompted the President to call on the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a deeper probe into the issue.
“The inclusion of this measure among the Ledac priority legislation manifests the commitment of Congress to support Pres. Marcos’ drive against unfair business practices that hurt consumers and local farmers alike, but also derail the administration’s efforts to attain food security,” Romualdez said.
“Rest assured that we, in the House of People, will act on these pending three measures with careful dispatch,” he added.
For the 1st Regular Session of the 19th Congress, the Ledac initially named 31 bills as priority measures. It then increased to 42 after Marcos included other bills like the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) among the priority legislation.