By Billy Begas
The House of Representatives has approved 23 of the 31 measures identified as priorities by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) before the Holy Week break.
Of the 23 House-approved measures, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said two had been signed into law by President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.
“We have done our share in passing important pieces of legislation that will help the country recover from the crippling impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and external shocks that adversely affect the economy and the nation,” Romualdez said. “That was our commitment during the series of meetings at LEDAC. That is our continuing commitment to the Filipino people.”
The two bills the President has signed into law are the SIM Registration Act and the bill rescheduling the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.
The LEDAC priority bills approved in the House on third and final reading are:
– Magna Carta of Seafarers,
– E-Governance Act / E-Government Act,
– Negros Island Region,
– Virology Institute of the Philippines,
– Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act,
– National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
– 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,
– Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law,
– Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers,
– Valuation Reform,
– Eastern Visayas Development Authority,
– Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone,
– Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed
Enterprises for Economic Recovery,
– National Citizens Service Training Program, and
– Rightsizing the National Government.
Another LEDAC priority bill– the Agrarian Reform Debts Condonation is now for bicameral conference committee approval.
The eight remaining LEDAC priorities in the House are:
– Regional Specialty Hospitals,
– Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry,
– National Land Use Act,
– Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission
– Electric Power Industry Reform Act,
– Budget Modernization,
-National Defense Act, and
– Unified System of Separation, Retirement, and Pension for Uniformed Personnel.
“We are working double time to pass the remaining eight LEDAC measures and our own priority bills. We are confident of approving them on third and final reading before the sine die break,” Romualdez said.
Aside from the LEDAC priority measures, Romualdez said the House leadership also identified 21 measures that will be given priority. These include the Maharlika Investment Fund bill, Ease of Paying Taxes Act, LGU Income Classification, and Amendment to the Universal Health Care Act, which were already approved on third and final reading.
The House also approved Resolution of Both Houses 6, which calls for a constitutional convention to amend economic provisions of the Charter, and its implementing measure, House Bill 7352.
