House of Representatives. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Friday said that the House of Representatives will find ways to expedite further processes in passing the administration’s priority bills, including the 2024 national budget.
He made the remark as he promised that the House of Representatives would focus mainly on the 20 priority bills and the P5.76-trillion national budget for next year during their Second Regular Session, which starts on July 27.
The Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) identified the priority bills in a recent meeting led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Processes and systems can always be improved. I believe there are still better ways we can perform our mandate of legislation without sacrificing the quality of our work,” Romualdez said in a statement Friday.
“Mas lalong magta-trabaho ang inyong Kamara de Representantes sa pagbubukas ng 2nd Regular Session nitong kasalukuyang buwan na ating sisimulan sa Sona (state of the nation address) ng ating Pangulong Marcos,” he also said.
(Your House of Representatives will work harder at the opening of the 2nd Regular Session this month, which we will begin with the Sona [State of the Nation Address] of our President Marcos.)
“With our firm commitment to approve the remaining priority measures agreed upon during the LEDAC meetings, various House panels will continue working during committee deliberations of the proposed 2024 NEP [National Expenditure Program],” he added.
Once the lower chamber begins its preliminary deliberations for the national budget, “some committees may be authorized to pursue the performance of its mandate of passing vital pieces of legislation,” Romualdez continued.
He expressed confidence that the House can achieve the goals he has set, citing their accomplishments during the First Regular Session.
“If members of the House of Representatives will work with the same passion and vigor they exhibited during the First Regular Session, I have no doubt that we can do better this time around,” Romualdez said.
According to Romualdez, the House of Representatives has processed an average of 30 measures each session, 9,600 – 8,490 bills, 1,109 resolutions, and one petition – in the first 10 months of the 19th Congress.
He added that the lower chamber has already approved 33 bills listed as priority measures by Marcos and the Ledac on the third and final reading, passing 577 bills on the final reading.
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