Romualdez rallies House to exert final push to pass remaining priority bills before session ends

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Monday rallied fellow lawmakers at the House of Representatives to exert a final concerted push in the remaining four weeks of their session to pass the pending pro-people priority measures of the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr.

Addressing the plenary during the resumption of the session of the House, Speaker Romualdez welcomed back House members, expressing hope they had ample rest during the break, as he outlined the task they have to accomplish before the sine die adjournment of the First Regular Session of the 19th Congress on June 2.

“As we face the remainder of the First Regular Session, we have merely four weeks to complete our legislative agenda that has been prescribed by no less than our President in his first SONA plus those that have been identified as priority measures in the LEDAC (Legislative Executive Advisory Council),” Speaker Romualdez said.

“Later this afternoon (Monday) I will engage with our party leaders to see how we can make sure that the remainder of these four weeks before we adjourn sine die is used most efficiently and maximized so that we can achieve our goals in making sure that the common legislative agenda, not just of both Houses, but that of the Executive are achieved,” he added.

On Sunday, Speaker Romualdez bared that President Marcos approved 11 additional bills, including the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) as part of LEDAC, bringing to 42 from the original 31 the total number of priority administration measures.

The 11 bills include 1. Amending the AFP Fixed Term Bill, which was transmitted to the President; 2. Ease of Paying Taxes, 3. Maharlika Investment Fund, 4. Local Government Unit Income Classification, and 5. Amendment to Universal Health Care Act, which were already sent to the Senate; 6. Bureau of Immigration Modernization and 7. Infrastructure Development Plan/Build Build BuildProgram, which is now for committee report preparation; 8. Philippine Salt Industry Development Act; 9. Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS), 10. National Employment Action Plan, and 11. Amendment to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which is under committee/technical working group (TWG) meeting.

“I implore all of you to continue the hard work that has now become the hallmark of the 19th Congress, a most hard-working and diligent Congress we have been. And I believe that we can still do much, much more in the furtherance of the interest of the Filipino people. Maraming maraming salamat sa trabaho, sa paglingkod ninyo sa bayan. Mabuhay po ang Kongreso. Mabuhay po kayong lahat,” Romualdez said.

Before this, the Speaker reported to the House plenary the results of the five-day official visit of President Marcos to the United States, which he characterized as “the most productive and the most successful one and has brought Philippine-US relations to its greatest heights in recent years.”

“I’m proud to say that we, in conjunction with the Executive, had done our work with our counterparts in Capitol Hill in furthering and in enhancing and in deepening the relationships between the two countries, the Philippines and the United States—long historical allies—particularly during this period of uncertainty, post-COVID and the tensions that affect our region,” he added.

The Speaker had accompanied Pres. Marcos in his various engagements, including those with US President Joe Biden, US Vice President Kamala Harris, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and ranking members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Also with the Speaker to support Pres. Marcos during his official visit to the US were Deputy Speaker and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, Jr., and Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco.