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SOURCE: Press and Public Affairs Bureau

House approves 23 of 31 LEDAC bills on third and final reading
22 March 2023 01:00:47 PM


AS session adjourns for Holy Week recess, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G.
Romualdez on Wednesday bared that the House of Representatives
succeeded in approving on third and final reading 23 of 31 bills
identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council
(LEDAC) as priority measures of the Marcos administration.

These measures were already transmitted to the Senate.

The 31 LEDAC priority measures, collectively called the Common
Legislative Agenda (CLA) of Malacañang, Senate, and the House of
Representatives, were drawn up from dozens of legislative measures
that were filed in Congress to further stimulate economic activities,
create job opportunities, reduce poverty, and provide better health
care services for Filipinos.

Speaker Romualdez said out of the 23 measures approved by the House,
two had been signed into law by President Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Romualdez Marcos Jr. while the remaining eight bills in the LEDAC
priority list are under advanced stages of deliberation.

“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,” he said.

“That was our commitment during the series of meetings at LEDAC. That
is our continuing commitment to the Filipino people,” the House leader
added.

Aside from having been identified by the LEDAC as priority measures,
the approved bills were also among those enumerated by President
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA)
in July last year, Romualdez said.

“We have responded positively to the President’s call for legislation
that would hasten the country’s recovery from the pandemic, sustain
our economic growth, and implement his Agenda for Prosperity,” the
Speaker added.

The two bills the President has signed into law are the mobile phone
SIM (subscriber information module) Registration Act, which is now
under implementation, and the measure postponing the barangay and
Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October this year.
The 20 other LEDAC-endorsed bills approved on third and final reading
by the House of Representatives 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 bill, the Agrarian Reform Debts Condonation is now for
bicameral conference committee approval.

The eight other LEDAC bills pending in the House are the: Regional
Specialty Hospitals (for second reading approval), Enabling Law for
the Natural Gas Industry (under technical working group or TWG
deliberation), National Land Use Act (TWG); Department of Water
Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission
(TWG), Electric Power Industry Reform Act (for committee
deliberation), Budget Modernization (for committee deliberation),
National Defense Act (for committee deliberation), and Unified System
of Separation, Retirement and Pension for Uniformed Personnel (also
for committee deliberation).

“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,” Speaker Romualdez
said.

Aside from the 31 measures in the LEDAC list, Speaker Romualdez said
the House committee chairmen and members have identified 21 measures
that they wanted to be given priority.

He said the 21 include 10 for LEDAC endorsement, four of which - the
Maharlika Investment Fund bill, Ease of Paying Taxes Act, LGU Income
Classification, and Amendment to Universal Health Care Act - have been
approved on third and final reading.

He added that the House priority list includes Resolution of Both
Houses (RBH) No. 6, which calls for a constitutional convention to
amend “restrictive” economic provisions of the Charter, which would
enable the country to attract more foreign investments, and its
implementing measure, HB No. 7352.

The House voted 301 against six with one abstention to overwhelmingly
approve RBH No. 6 on third and final reading. HB No. 7352 has also
hurdled third reading with 301 against seven voting.

“Two of our more promising initiatives is the Maharlika Investment
Fund (MIF) proposal and the efforts to amend the economic provisions
of our existing Constitution through a Constitutional Convention.
These measures, we at the House of Representatives believe, will help
create a more vibrant economy not only for the Philippines but also
for the countries in the Asia-Pacific Region, by reducing, if not,
totally eliminating economic barriers to investments. Indeed, there
are so much more to look forward to,” Speaker Romualdez said.

The other House priorities that have been approved on third and final
reading are the following: On-Site, In-City Near City Local Government
Resettlement Program, Open Access in Data Transmission, Online
Registration of Voters, Amendments to the Philippine Crop Insurance
Corporation Charter, and Mandatory Establishment of Evacuation Centers
in Every City, Province, Municipality/Permanent Evacuation Centers,
and Local Government Income Classification.

As of press time Wednesday, the House is scheduled to ratify the bicameral conference committee report on the AFP Fixed Term Law, which is also a House priority.

Under other priority measures are Government Procurement Act (TWG),
Department of Resilience (committee level), and Livestock Development
and Competitiveness Bill (committee level).

Several other measures — Revitalizing Salt Industry, Philippine
Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System, Bureau of Immigration
Modernization, National Employment Action Plan, Amendment to the
Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, , and Infrastructure Development
Plan/Build Build Build Program— are for LEDAC inclusion and undergoing
committee deliberation.(END)

 
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