THE House of Representatives will prioritize the passage of bills seeking to hasten the country’s digital transformation when Congress resumes session today in response to a call made by President Marcos Jr. last week.
“We will expedite the passage of these measures to implement the pronouncements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Davos, Switzerland on his desire for the country to catch up with other nations in digital evolution,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said yesterday.
The Speaker said among the top priorities of the House is the passage of the E-Government and E-Governance Act, which would help accelerate the country’s digital transformation to fuel growth momentum.
Marcos, in Davos where he attended the World Economic Forum (WEF), said he would work to address slow internet connectivity and cybersecurity issues and to digitalize the bureaucracy.
Romualdez said House priorities for this year also include the 11 other important bills the Executive and Legislative branches had agreed on in October during the meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
He said these proposals are likewise among those enumerated by President Marcos in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.
“These measures are components of the President’s agenda for prosperity, which we fully support,” he said.
In addition to the E-Governance/Government Act, the pending urgent bills are the following:
* Enabling law for the natural gas industry.
* Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA)/
* Proposed Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension Act.
* National Land Use Act.
* National Defense Act.
* National Government Rightsizing Program Bill.
* Budget Modernization Bill.
* Department of Water Resources Bill/
* Proposed law establishing Negros Island Region.
* Magna Carta for Filipino seafarers.
* Proposal to establish regional specialty hospitals.
TRANSFORMATION GOAL
Romualdez also vowed to work with the Senate for the enactment of various bills that the chamber has approved on third and final reading before Congress started its Christmas recess last month, including the Internet Transactions/E-Commerce Bill.
Like the proposed E-Governance/Government Act, he said the internet transactions bill would contribute to attaining the President’s digital transformation goal.
The Speaker is the principal author of the two measures and as well as most of the approved and pending priority bills.
The proposed E-Governance/Government Act seeks to shift the bureaucracy to digital platforms for faster and more efficient and transparent services.
It will establish an integrated, interconnected, and interoperable information, resource-sharing and communications network, which will include internal records, management information system, information database, and digital portals spanning the entirety of the national and local government for the delivery of public services.
It will also provide easier access to government information and services in a manner consistent with laws regarding protection of personal privacy, national security, records retention, access for persons with disability, and other relevant statutes.
A service portal to allow the public to transact business with agencies and for state offices to render service online would be set up.
The bill sets timelines for responsible personnel to act or decide on requests or applications.
The E-Commerce Bill aims to regulate internet transactions and protect consumers as well as merchants.
An Electronic Commerce Bureau would be created under the Department of Trade and Industry to implement the proposed law, which would apply to all internet transactions and to all domestic merchants and foreign entities doing online business in the Philippines.
The bill details the rights and obligations of all those involved in or doing internet transactions. It provides the means for redress of grievances and resolution of disputes.
It prescribes penalties for violations, including fines of up to P5 million.
SENATE PRIORITIES
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate has lined up its priority measures but the controversial Maharlika Investment Fund is not among those.
Zubiri said the chamber will prioritize the passage of bills of national importance and the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, condonation of unpaid amortization and interest loans of agrarian reform beneficiaries, and amendments to the new law on fixed terms of key officers of the Armed Forces.
“We also expect to tackle the Maharlika Fund Bill soon, but not as a priority measure, but a measure for deep discussion and careful consideration,” Zubiri said.
Other priorities of the Senate are the passage of the proposed Medical Reserve Corps Act, the Center for Disease Prevention and Control Act, and the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines Act.
“I promised the people that this will be a Senate oriented toward national reconstruction and that remains our goal as we move into the new year,” Zubiri said.
Senate majority leader Joel Villanueva said the bill on jobs recovery will also be given priority, including the institutionalization of the National Employment Recovery Strategy which he said President Marcos Jr sees as an urgent measure. — With Raymond Africa
