Sen. Grace Poe during one of the Senate’s proceedings. Senate PRIB file photo / Bibo Nueva España
MANILA, Philippines — Heeding President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s call, the Senate will now prioritize the passage of a measure that would create a new body to manage the country’s water resources efficiently.
Senator Grace Poe, the leading proponent of the bill creating the Department of Water Resources, hopes the President would certify it as urgent.
“We hope the push for a water department law can take a step forward with an urgent certification from the President,” Poe said in a statement on Tuesday.
In his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, Marcos made another push for the approval of the measure though it is not part of the 20 priority measures of Congress this year.
The fresh bid for its passage was made even after the President’s order early this year to create the Water Resource Management Office pending the bill’s approval in Congress.
“Let’s seize the moment stirred by the President’s marching orders to pass the Department of Water Resources Management bill finally,” Poe said.
“Water deserves serious focus and consolidated effort. We must act before the crisis exacerbates,” she stressed.
Shortly after the President’s Sona, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva told reporters that the water department bill would now be prioritized in the upper chamber.
“Definitely, we will prioritize as it is requested to us by the President. Even before he spoke on the podium, nung nasa loob kami nabanggit niya ito,” Villanueva said.
He said they would hold a caucus in the coming days to tackle the measure.
The majority leader also expressed confidence that before tackling the 2024 national budget, the Senate could pass three to four important measures that Marcos wants Congress to pass.
Villanueva cited the proposed LGU income classification, easing of paying taxes, the Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law, and the salt revitalization bill, which he said is just “within reach.”