House to prioritize 12 measures

The House of Representatives will prioritize the deliberations on 12 economic measures to help boost the economy’s recovery amid the ongoing pandemic.

House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez said there are five bills under a period of interpellations in plenary, and seven being deliberated at the committee level.

“I have explicit instructions from House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco. We have to prioritize these 12 bills that were endorsed by Secretary (Carlos) Sonny Dominguez (III) as part of the legislative priorities of the Department of Finance,” Romualdez said in a statement.

“These legislative imperatives, according to Secretary Dominguez, are needed to help ensure that the economy recovers quickly from the corona-induced crisis in a strong, sustainable, and resilient manner,” he said.

The 12 economic measures to be prioritized are what remains of 22 bills endorsed by the government’s economic managers to the 18th Congress.

Ten other measures were already approved by the House, but remain pending in the Senate.

The five measures under plenary deliberations are: House Bill 7749 or the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE); HB 7425 or the Digital Transactions Value Added Tax; HB 7406 or Bureau of Fire Protection Modernization Program; HB 6135 or Fiscal Mining Regime; and HB 7425 or Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law.

The measures still pending at the committee level are: Military and Uniformed Personnel Services Separation, Retirement, and Pension Bill; Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Bill; Coconut Farmers Trust Fund Bill; Department of Water Resources and Water Regulatory Commission Bill; Warehouse Receipts Bill; National Disease Prevention and Management Authority Bill; and the National Land Use Bill.

Romualdez expressed confidence that the House of Representatives can pass the pending measure “before the onset of the election fever next year.”

Previously, the House has passed 10 economic measures which are pending in the Senate. These are: HB 4157 or Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Bill; HB 6816 or Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Bill; HB 6654 Converting the Insurance Commission into a Collegial Body; HB 6768 or the Financial Consumer Protection Bill; HB 6136 or the Motor Vehicles User Tax; HB 6134 or Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing Systems Act; HB 300 or Foreign Investment Act Amendments; HB 78 or Public Service Act Amendments; HB 59 or Retail Trade Liberalization; and HB 6927 or E-Government Act.

“Once these measures were approved by the Senate and enacted into laws, we expect the Philippines to keep its status as one of the emerging economies in the world in terms of financial strength and economic resilience,” Romualdez said.

Meanwhile, Velasco assured the public that the House will help carry out the Duterte administration’s legislative agenda.

In a statement, the House Speaker said the lower chamber “will adhere to the Chief Executive’s call for enabling legislation that would put an end to systemic corruption and protect the interests and welfare of overseas Filipino workers, farmers and fisherfolk.”

The House Speaker made the remarks a day after he took his oath of office before President Duterte at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang on Monday night.