SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday committed to passing the remaining three of the 28 bills identified by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for approval before the conclusion of the 19th Congress next year.
Speaker Romualdez assured this after attending the full LEDAC meeting led by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. at the Kalayaan Hall of Malacañang, where an additional five bills were included in the LEDAC list, bringing to 64 its present 59 LEDAC priority measures.
“Most of the bills (25) are already in their final stages and approved by the House of Representatives. We are committed to approving the remaining three of the twenty-eight measures named during our LEDAC meeting with President Bongbong Marcos, Senate President Chiz Escudero, and other officials. These legislative measures are crucial to the country’s development agenda,” Speaker Romualdez said.
The five new LEDAC measures, including its status in the House of Representatives, are as follows: 1. Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act (No Bill Filed), 2. Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law (For Committee Deliberations), 3. Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act (3rd Reading), 4. Reforms to the Philippine Capital Markets (3rd reading), and 5. Amendments to the Rice Tarrification Law (RTL) (3rd reading).
The remaining 23 of 28 bills are the following:
1. Amendments to the EPIRA (Under Technical Working Group/Committee Deliberations)
2. Amendments to the Right of Way Act (3rdreading)
3. Excise Tax on Single-Use of Plastics (3rdreading)
4. Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime (3rd reading)
5. Department of Water Resources (3rd reading)
6. CREATE MORE Act (3rd reading)
7. Blue Economy Act (3rd reading)
8. Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act (3rd reading)
9. Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act (3rd reading)
10. Open Access in Data Transmission Act (3rdreading)
11. Waste to Energy Bill (3rd reading)
12. Instituting a National Citizens Service Training (NCST) Program – (3rd reading)
13. United System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel (3rd reading)
14. E-Government Act/E-Governance Act (3rdreading)
15. Philippine Immigration Act (3rd reading)
16. Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act (Ratified Bicameral Report)
17. Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act (Ratified Bicameral Report)
18. Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act (Adopted Senate Bill as Amendment to House Bill)
19. Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act
20. Philippine Maritime Zone Act (Bicameral conference)
21. Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act (Bicameral conference)
22. VAT on Digital Services (Bicameral conference)
23. New Government Auditing Code (3rd reading)
Speaker Romualdez said President Marcos underscored the need to approve these bills to help drive national progress and address significant concerns facing the country.
“The President has emphasized the importance of passing these measures to advance the policies of the Marcos administration for the country’s continued economic recovery, progress, and stability of our nation,” Romualdez said.
He reiterated his high confidence in better working cooperation and a closer relationship with the Senate under Senate President Escudero.
“We are dedicated to working together and diligently to achieve our shared goals of passing these measures before the end of the 19th Congress,” Romualdez said.
During the LEDAC meeting, Romualdez reported that the House has done its homework on legislation, approving on third and final reading all of President Marcos’ priority measures.
“The House of the People has done its homework. Our accomplishments reflect our proactive stance in catering to the needs of the people by passing these much-needed legislation attuned to the Philippine Development Plan and the 8-point socio-economic agenda under the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework of the President,” Speaker Romualdez said.
He said the House approved on the third and final reading last March, or three months ahead of schedule, all of the 20 priority LEDAC measures targeted for passage by the end of June 2024.
