Senate to approve 17 bills up for final reading

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate will approve 17 bills that are set for the third and final reading, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Saturday.

According to Zubiri, four of these bills are part of the priority legislation of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), and 12 are local bills for the improvement of state universities and colleges.

“In fact, on Monday, we will approve four measures that are part of our LEDAC commitments. And so far, we are on track to meeting our deadlines because, by the end of this year, we hope to approve all 20 LEDAC priority measures pending in the Senate,” Zubiri said.

The Senate president also said that the upper chamber approved five bills on second reading during the previous week, which include:

• Senate Bill (SB)No. 2001 (New Philippine Passport Act)
• SB 1846 (Internet Transactions Act of 2023)
• SB 2224 (Ease of Paying Taxes Act)
• SB 2028 (An Act Recognizing the Octogenarians, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians)
• SB 2233 (Public Private Partnership Act)

The bills except for SB 2028 are LEDAC priority bills. According to Zubiri, they will be up for final reading on Monday.

Two bills are also set to be signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., namely: the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act and the Local Government Unit Income Classification Act.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act has been approved by the Senate on final reading and is on standby for bicameral committee action.

On the other hand, the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and the Amendments to the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers are undergoing amendments before their approval on second reading.

The former has been certified as urgent and has a high possibility of being approved in its third reading.

Meanwhile, the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program, as well as the National Disease Prevention Management Authority/Center for Disease Prevention Bill are all in the interpellation and are pending approval on second reading.

RELATED STORIES

Gov’t, local execs discuss Negros Island Region proposal

Zubiri to China: Stop destruction of marine resources in WPS

je