THE House of Representatives on Wednesday night authorized all standing and special committees to hold hearings during the congressional break to expedite the passage of more urgent measures.
The plenary approved the move of deputy majority leader Marlyn Primicias-Agabas of Pangasinan to allow all committees to continue with their work of producing important pieces of legislation during the break from September 28 to November 5.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the move will ensure the expeditious passage of important legislative measures, including those aimed at addressing high prices of basic commodities.
“While we already passed almost all of our priority bills listed under LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) and SONA (State of the Nation Address), we want to accelerate the passage of other House priority legislation. We still have a lot on our legislative table and other urgent measures are in various stages of deliberation,” Romualdez said in his speech before the session adjourned.
The Speaker said the House passed all 20 LEDAC priority bills that were targeted for approval by both Houses by the end of December, during the second LEDAC’s second full meeting in July.
Among the 20 are House Bill (HB) 7006 or Automatic Income Classification Act for Local Government Units, the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act, Philippine Centers for Disease Prevention and Control Act, Instituting a National Citizens Service Program, Waste Treatment Technology Act, Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, and Military and Other Uniformed Personnel Pension Act.
The Senate has passed 18 proposed measures, including five which are in the list of President Marcos’ priority bills, before Congress went on break, said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.
On the last day of its session on Wednesday, the Senate ratified Senate Bill No. 2224 (Ease of Paying Taxes Act) and SBN 2233 (Public Private Partnership Act), three days after both measures hurdled the upper chamber’s final deliberations.
SBN 2221, or the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, was likewise also approved on third and final reading after the President certified its passage as urgent.
Last Monday, Zubiri said the measures which got through the third and final reading in the Senate include the New Philippine Passport Act, Internet Transactions Act, Ease of Paying Taxes Act, and Public Private Partnership Act.
A bill of national significance, “An Act Recognizing the Octogenarians, Nonagenarians and Centenarians,” also secured the approval of the senators. This will give cash incentives of P10,000, P20,000, and P100,000 to senior citizens reaching 80, 90, and 100 years old, respectively.
Twelve other local bills on state colleges and universities in various parts of the country were also passed by the Senate.
Zubiri said the President is expected to sign into law SBN 1846 after the House adopted the Senate version, doing away with the deliberations of the bicameral conference committee. — With Raymond Africa
