MANILA, Philippines — Allies of President Marcos in the House of Representatives have passed on third and final reading a total of 29 bills out of 42 priority measures, and vowed to pass the 13 others before the June 2 congressional break.
“We will try to achieve that objective on a best-effort basis. The bills on deck will complement those that we have passed and which support the Agenda for Prosperity and eight-point socio-economic roadmap of President Marcos,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said.
The chamber approved the initial 23 priority pieces of legislation before Congress went on a Holy Week break last March 24, and stamped its approval on third and final reading priority House Bill 7751 (Department of Health Specialty Centers Act) on Monday evening.
This brings to 24 the total approved bills in the first batch of 31 measures approved for immediate passage by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, while five of the 11 bills – or the second batch of LEDAC bills – have already been approved in March.
The House has thus churned out an overall 29 – 24 from the first batch and five in the second succeeding priority measures, including the Maharlika Investment Fund, AFP fixed term, ease of paying taxes, LGU income classification and Universal Health Care amendments.
Political parties under the super majority coalition, led by the ruling and dominant Lakas-CMD party headed by Romualdez, gave assurance they will cooperate and help pass the 13 pending bills before Congress goes on sine die adjournment on June 2.
PDP-Laban stalwart House Deputy Speaker and Pampanga Rep. Dong Gonzales Jr. said he and other party leaders responded positively to the Speaker’s appeal.
“We hope we could do it in the short time we have before our annual mandatory adjournment. We are ready to go the extra mile to accomplish the task,” he said.
For his part, NP stalwart Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Barbers said “President Marcos’ legislative priority will benefit the Filipino people and these measures deserve our support.”
The seven other bills from original 31 LEDAC measures are the enabling law for the natural gas industry, National Land Use Act, Department of Water Resources and Services and creation of Water Regulatory Commission, Budget Modernization Act, National Defense Act, amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and the bill on a unified system of separation, retirement and pension for uniformed personnel.
The six measures from the second batch of 11 new LEDAC bills are: Bureau of Immigration Modernization; Infrastructure Development Plan/Build Build Build Program; Philippine Salt Industry Development Act; Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System; National Employment Action Plan and Amendment to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act.