The first session day of the second regular session was presided over by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and was attended by 311 lawmakers.(Photo by Gabriel Pabico Lalu)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives of the 19th Congress opened its second regular session on Monday, hours ahead of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona).
The first session day of the second regular session was presided over by House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and was attended by 311 lawmakers.
Despite the recent issues hounding top officials of the House — as the former president and now Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was accused of staging a coup against Romualdez — no changes were made to the leadership structure.
After Arroyo was removed from her previous post as Senior Deputy Speaker on May 17, 2023, the former president said that her actions may have been misconstrued as an attempt to seek the Speakership over Romualdez.
READ: Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo replaced as senior deputy speaker
READ: Arroyo breaks silence: My actions were misconstrued, I was accused of staging House coup
Arroyo was replaced by former deputy speaker, Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales. However, the alleged dispute was squashed days following the movements after Romualdez, Arroyo, and Gonzalez were seen together, hand-in-hand at the plenary session.
READ: House united? Gonzales, Arroyo walk together as new senior deputy speaker takes oath
The House resumes its session with a lot of work to do: as of now, six committees are scheduled to tackle bills and resolutions on Tuesday, including the House Committee on ways and means which will discuss bills to amend Republic Act No. 8794 or the law imposing a motor vehicle user’s charge (MVUC) on owners of all types of motor vehicles.
Last July 5, the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) approved the prioritization of 20 bills, namely:
- 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)
While the House has already approved 16 of these bills on the third and final reading, it still needs to tackle 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 over the weekend assured the public that they remain committed to passing the Ledac-approved priority bills.