House paases 19 priority bill ahaed of Holy Week break

By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA Integrated News

Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday touted the "impressive performance" of the House of Representatives following the approval of 19 priority measures of the Marcos administration ahead of schedule.

“We have done our homework. Our accomplishments reflect our proactive stance in catering to the needs of the people by passing these much-needed legislation that are attuned to the Philippine Development Plan and the 8-Point Socio-economic Agenda under the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework of His Excellency, President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr.,” he added.

“Wala po tayong backlog sa trabaho. Tapos natin ang mga napagkasunduang assignment bago pa man dumating ang deadline. Ang grado natin sa LEDAC: 100 percent,” he also said.

(We don’t have backlogs and we finished ahead of the deadline. We earned 100% as far as LEDAC bills are concerned.)

The deadline for the approval of the bills included the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) priority measures was set in June this year.  

Romualdez said the 19 bills approved on third and final reading are the following:

• Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System
• Negros Island Region
• Philippine Maritime Zones Act
• Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act
• Philippine Defense Industry Development Act (PDIDA)/Self-Reliant Defense Posture Act
• Valuation Reform bill
• Waste-to-Energy bill
• Instituting a National Citizens Service Training (NCST) Program
• E-Government/E-Governance Act
• Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act (AFASA)
• Enabling law for the Natural Gas Industry
• Value Added Tax on Digital Services
• Open Access in Data Transmission Act
• Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension Reform bill
• Blue Economy Act
• Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act
• Act Establishing the Department of Water Resources and Services 
• Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act and
• Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (Create More)

Congress adjourned session on Wednesday, March 20, and will be on break until April 28.

These measures are:

• SIM Registration Act (which has been signed into law last October 2022)
• Postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October this year (signed into law last October 2022)
• Magna Carta of Seafarers
• E-Government Act
• Establishment of Negros Island Region
• Establishment of the Virology Institute of the Philippines
• Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act
• Establishment of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Establishment of the Medical Reserve Corps
• Philippine Passport Act
• Internet Transaction Act
• E-Commerce Law
• Waste-to-Energy Bill
• Free legal assistance for police and soldiers
• Apprenticeship Act
• Amendments to Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law
• Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers
• Valuation Reform
• Establishment of Eastern Visayas Development Authority
• Establishment of Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone
• Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery Act
• National Citizens Service Training Program Act and
• Rightsizing the National Government Act

The eight other LEDAC bills pending in the House are:

• Establishment of the Regional Specialty Hospitals
• Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry
• Establishment of Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission
• National Land Use Act
• Amendments to Electric Power Industry Reform Act
• Budget Modernization Act
• National Defense Act
• Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension for Uniformed Personnel

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