THE Senate is set to approve on third and final reading 17 measures that include four priority legislation of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) and 12 local bills for the upgrade of state universities and colleges (SUCs).
“Apart from the budget deliberations in the committee, the Senate is doing its best to deliberate and pass important measures and see their enactment into law to benefit millions of Filipinos,” Zubiri said.
“In fact, on Monday, we will approve four measures that are part of our LEDAC commitments. And so far, we are on track to meeting our deadlines because, by the end of this year, we hope to approve all 20 LEDAC priority measures pending in the Senate,” he added.
For starters, Zubiri said the Senate approved last week a total of five bills of national application on second reading: Senate Bill No. 2001 or the New Philippine Passport Act; SB 1846 or the Internet Transactions Act of 2023; SB 2224 or the Ease of Paying Taxes Act; SB 2028 or An Act Recognizing the Octogenarians, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians; and SB 2233 or the Public Private Partnership Act.
“These measures will be up for final reading on Monday. The deliberations on these bills have been exhaustive and I am confident that we did a good job of crafting these pieces of legislation, the efforts and expertise of the legislative staff in the Senate included,” the Senate chief said.
All of the measures mentioned, save for SB 2028, are all part of the LEDAC priority list. Zubiri himself is one of the authors of the PPP Act and the Internet Transactions Act.
The 12 local bills involving SUCs are also up for approval on final reading. After the approval of the four LEDAC measures on Monday, the Senate will set the schedule for the bicameral conference committee hearing with their counterparts in the lower house, bringing the measures closer to enactment into law.
Zubiri assured that the Senate will meet its commitment to approve on final reading the remaining 17 of the 20 LEDAC measures before the session adjourns in December of this year.
So far, two measures – the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act and the LGU Income Classification Act – are already up for signature by President Marcos Jr. and awaiting enactment into law. Another bill, the Philippine Salt Industry Development Act, has already been approved by the Senate on final reading and awaiting bicameral committee action.
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and the Amendments to the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, meanwhile, are both in the period of amendments prior to approval on second reading.
As the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act was certified as urgent, there is a high possibility it will be approved on third and final reading this coming week.
Four measures – the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Mandatory ROTC and NSTP and the National Disease Prevention Management Authority/CDC Bill are all in the period of interpellations and will be up for approval on second reading.
The remaining LEDAC bills are all up for deliberations and discussions.
“With our pace in approving these LEDAC measures, I am confident that come December, all of our LEDAC commitments will have been met,” Zubiri declared.
