ALMOST 20 percent of all the measures passed by the House of Representatives in the 18th Congress have become laws despite the difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic which began in March 2020.
Outgoing majority leader Martin Romualdez said a total of 1,618 measures were approved by the House of Representatives from July 2019 to June 2022 under the leaderships of former speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and outgoing Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
As of June 1, a total of 311 bills were signed into law by President Duterte. Out of the 311 laws, 119 were national in scope and 192 were local.
Romualdez also noted that during the three-year run of the 18th Congress from July 22, 2019 to June 3, 2022, a total of 13,526 measures were filed. Of the number, 10,845 were bills while 2,681 were resolutions.
The lawmaker, who is poised to be the speaker of the 19th Congress, said the 18th Congress was productive as lawmakers were able to “outwork the COVID virus.”
“I am proud to have walked these halls with all of you as we have faithfully discharged our duties to our nation and our people,” said Romualdez, the president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and a cousin of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
The most significant of these COVID-19 response laws passed by the 18th Congress were the Bayanihan 1 and 2 that allowed the government to release billions of pesos to fight the effects of the pandemic and help protect citizens from the virus.
Another 759 measures — 310 national bills, 448 local bills, and one Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) — were passed on third and final reading during the 18th Congress, according to Romualdez. Some 13 bills, of which eight are national and five local in scope, were likewise approved on second reading.
Meanwhile, Romualdez said the filing of 1,497 committee reports showed how active the House committees were even during the pandemic when the lawmakers had to make do with virtual or digital processes instead of traditional face-to-face meetings.
