MANILA, Philippines – Congress has lined up some 40 priority bills for immediate passage, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III announced yesterday.
Pimentel said the 40 measures would be presented at the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting scheduled on Monday at Malacañang.
“These (list of priority bills) are not written in stone. The House and the Senate will periodically meet to update it. The list can be expanded. New ideas can arise. And then of course, after LEDAC inputs, there’ll be executive request for legislative action that can influence our list,” Pimentel told reporters.
He said the Senate did not include proposals to re-impose the death penalty as its priority.
The bills in the priority list include the revision of the Constitution; proposed Income Tax Reform Act, Estate Tax Reform Act, Corporation Code of the Philippines, Free Internet Access in Public Places Act, Traffic and Congestion Crisis Act (Emergency Powers), Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Act, Anti-Hazing Law Amendments, Criminal Investigation Act, Anti-Discrimination Act, End of Endo/Contractualization Act, Expand Coverage of Local Absentee Voting Act and Free School Feeding.
The other bills include Social Security Act Amendments, Department of Housing and Urban Development Act, Free Irrigation Services Act, Free Higher Education Act, Refusal of Hospital and Medical Clinics to Administer Medical Treatment in Emergency Cases, Philippine Mental Health Act, Ease of Doing Business Act/Fast Business Permit Act, Public Service Act Amendments (Strengthen the Public Service Act as well as the National Telecommunications Commission), Allowable/Recoverable System Loss Act, Philippine Passport Act Amendments, Salary Standardization Law IV, Government Procurement Reform Act Amendments, Family Code of the Philippines Amendments.