Senate performance in 2024 – 108 bills passed, 72 signed into law

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero during the Kapihan sa Senado forum on Tuesday, October 29, 2024. (File photo from NOY MORCOSO / INQUIRER.net)

MANILA, Philippines — Senate is on track in making 2024 among its most productive years, with more than a hundred bills passed and over 70 signed into law.

Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero made the assessment as he looked back at the accomplishments of the chamber this year.

The Senate leader said they maximized each session day and “leveraged every hour, minute and second on the Senate floor.”

Data from Escudero’s office showed the performance of the Senate so far:

• 108 bills passed
• 106 resolutions adopted
• 6 treaties, international agreements concurred
• 72 bills signed into law

“Halfway through the third regular session of the 19th Congress, the Senate is on pace to become one of the most productive in history with a total of 72 bills already signed into law,” said Escudero in a statement on Friday.

Included in the 72 bills that have reached President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s table and were signed into law are 11 Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council priority measures.

Among these are the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, and the Amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law.

According to Escudero, in 2024, the Senate was able to focus on its mandate of passing laws that will help the administration achieve its development plans and strengthen Philippine sovereignty.

The enacted legislative measures also further enhanced the viability of the country as an investment destination, and improve the lives of many Filipinos, he said.

“Our hearings, probes and exposés did not merely serve dinner-table gossip for the people’s entertainment. These brought to the table a bounty of bills that will fill plates, sustain families and nourish Filipinos for generations to come,” the lawmaker noted.

He then thanked his colleagues and all the Senate staff and employees.

“Indeed, in the past year we weathered typhoons, braved stormy public opinion and navigated choppy political waters,” he told them.

“We overcame these challenges because our 23 senators, strengthened by diversity, sharing a common vision and united in purpose, are more than the sum of its parts,” the Senate chief noted.

Escudero also emphasized that under his leadership, they did not sacrifice quality for quantity in passing legislative pieces.

“Each bill underwent the crucible of deliberation and debate, carving out the extraneous, the excessive and the unconstitutional,” he pointed out.

Concluding his statement, the Senate chief vowed to make the most out of the chamber’s remaining session days.

Escudero took his oath as the 25th Senate president in May after successfully initiating an ouster plot against his predecessor Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.