MATAPOS NA LAGDAAN ANG KASUNDUAN SA PAGITAN NG KAPULUNGAN AT ATENEO DE MANILA, SPEAKER ROMUALDEZ: ‘SMARTER HOUSE’ TO MAKE MORE ‘PRO-PEOPLE’ LEGISLATION

Matapos makipag partner ang Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan sa pangunahing institusyong akademya - Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) para sa proyektong kolaborasyon sa pagsasaliksik, nagpahayag si Speaker Martin G. Romualdez ngayong Martes ng paniniwala na ang Kapulungan ay makakaasa na magtatrabaho sa pamamagitan ng 

“evidence-based, people-oriented” na lehislasyon sa mga darating na araw.

“Today is indeed an auspicious day at the House of Representatives. It has been our dream to bring about a smarter House of Representatives, one that is equipped with the means by which we can effectively pursue evidence-based and people-oriented legislation in a timely manner,” ayon kay Speaker Romualdez sa kanyang talumpati sa idinaos na makasaysayang paglagda sa nasabing kasunduan.

“This morning’s signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the House and the Ateneo de Manila University for the Research Partnership Project is an important step in the realization of this dream,” dagdag ni Speaker Romualdez.

Ang Memorandum of Agreement, na kikilalanin bilang HRep-Ateneo de Manila Research Project, ay nilagdaan nina Secretary-General Reginald Velasco para sa Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan at Fr. Roberto C. Yap, pangulo ng ADMU at para sa Department of Economics and the Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) ng pamantasan. 

Ang seremonya ay idinaos sa Romualdez Hall ng Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan.

“This partnership could not come at a more opportune time. We are at a critical juncture in our life as a nation. While the state of national health emergency has passed, many of our people are still feeling the effects of the pandemic and its byproducts on the economy,” ayon kay Speaker Romualdez sa kanyang talumpati.

“The global economic prospects in the coming years are not all that bright either. These conditions make it imperative that the decisions we make in the here and now actually result in changes that lead to the intended improvement in the lives of many, if not all our people,” dagdag pa ni Speaker.

Dahil dito, ang HRep-ADMU research partnership ay tututok sa pag-oorganisa ng 11 “Research Teams” na magsasagawa ng mga pag-aaral sa mga sektor na tinukoy sa 8-Point Agenda ni Pangulong Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. 

Ang mga ito ay ang mga sektor ng seguridad sa agrikultura at pagkain; imprastraktura, transportasyon at seguridad sa enerhiya; kalusugan, edukasyon at social protection; trabaho; fiscal management; competisyon at kalakalan; pagsasaliksik, kaunlaran at digital economy; kalikasan, luntian at bughaw na ekonomiya, at mga nagsusustining komunidad, at; kapayapaan, seguridad, at public order and safety.

Ayon sa MOA, ang Research Teams “shall be headed by experts in the field, and they shall be called Congressional Research Fellows (CRFs).” 

“The CRFs shall come from ADMU, and other universities or research institutions,” batay sa nakasaad sa MOA.

Kasama sa Research Teams ang mga kinatawan mula sa Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD), ang tanggapan na may mandato na magsagawa ng polisiya at pagsasaliksik sa badyet, upang magsilbing pundasyon ng mga impormasyon para sa lehislasyon at oversight.

Ang ACERD ay sentro ng kagalingan sa sistema ng ADMU na may dedikasyong magsagawa ng mga pagsasaliksik, na magsisilbing mapagkukunan ng mga impormasyon para sa pagbalangkas ng mga polisiya. Nakikipag-ugnayan rin ito sa iba pang mga institusyon upang isulong ang palitan ng kaalaman at kasanayan.

Sa tuntunin ng ADMU na “persons-for-and-with-others,” naniniwala si Romualdez na ang nasabing partnership ay makakapaglatag ng mga lehislasyon na matapat na makakapag benepisyo sa sambayanang Pilipino, dahil ang naturang institusyong akademya ay kilala sa pagsusulong ng paglilingkod, katarungan, at pagtulong sa mga mahihirap.

“This is why this partnership is very important. We need all the help we can get if we are to realize the ambitious goal of our beloved President to lower the poverty rate to a single digit over the next five years,” ani Romualdez. 

“Ateneo can greatly help us in this regard not only by providing Congress with timely, credible, useful and policy-relevant technical information for legislation borne from rigorous research, but also by lending their esteemed voices in the discussion of proposed reforms with the end-in-view of educating our people on the need for these reforms,” pagpapatuloy niya. "We need these inputs if the nation is to surmount the economic headwinds before us.”

Partikular na pinuri ni Romualdez ang mga layunin ng partnership, na gumawa ng mga batas batay sa 8-Point Agenda ng Pangulo.

“Please proceed with my blessings. We have our jobs before us and we need to act quickly. Our people are counting on us – in stabilizing the prices of basic commodities, in attracting more investments and creating more quality employment, in ensuring economic growth and prosperity,” aniya.

“We cannot fail. With everyone’s participation, we will not fail," ani Speaker. 

Pinasalamatan niya rin ang mga “prime movers” na nasa likod ng proyekto: Congressman Elizaldy Co, Congresswoman Stella Quimbo, Congresswoman Yedda Marie Romualdez, ang Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) sa pamumuno ni Deputy Secretary General Dr. Romulo Emmanuel Miral Jr. at ng Legal at Finance Departments ng Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan.

“Let me also convey my gratitude to the Ateneo de Manila University, led by its President, Father Yap, for allowing the University’s formidable academic resources to be used for the noble task of nation-building through the legislative process,” ayon pa kay Romualdez.

“It is my hope that other educational institutions will follow your lead and also partner with the House in our shared pursuit of sustainable economic development,” pagtatapos niya. #

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