60 bills await Noy signature

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino and his office still needs to review 60 bills from Congress a few days before he steps down from office.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said over dzRB that the list includes the proposed “Exact Change Act.”

The measure, which requires business establishments to give exact change to its customers, awaits Aquino’s signature to become a law, reports said.

Coloma said the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office informed him that there were about 60 enrolled bills being reviewed by the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (ODESLA).

Aquino also said last June 17 during a farewell lunch with members of media that he was busy working on the bills he would need to sign, veto or allow to lapse into law.

Coloma said the Office of the President and the ODESLA, in particular, should have at least 30 days to study a bill but some were submitted only on June 1 and even as late as June 16.

“There must be a careful study of every enrolled bill so the President would have sufficient and reasonable basis for his decision related to this,” Coloma said.

Balanced housing measure

Meanwhile, a bill that seeks to increase the number of socialized housing projects undertaken by developers in their total housing portfolio is on Aquino’s desk awaiting his signature to be enacted into law.

The proposed “Balanced Housing Development Program Amendments Act” seeks to amend Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 by having developers of subdivision and condominium projects contribute in the socialized housing program.

The bill was crafted by the House committee on housing and urban development, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez. 

The measure seeks to have the developer allocate 15 percent of the total subdivision area and five percent of the condominium area for socialized housing.

The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) shall jointly determine and set separate socialized housing price ceilings, under the measure.

The HUDCC and NEDA are also mandated to review and revise the housing price every three years to match the economic conditions of the country.

They shall also review and adjust the required allotment for both subdivision and condominium projects on the fifth year after the bill is signed into law. – With Paolo Romero