Despite the near-passage of the priority legislations of the Marcos administration, the House of Representatives will continue to hold public hearings during its month-long break to produce and tackle other bills pending in the chamber.
Pangasinan Rep. Marlyn Agabas moved to allow all committees to continue conducting meetings or public hearings if deemed necessary, following an order by Speaker Martin Romualdez to do so to ensure the prompt passage of noteworthy and crucial measures, particularly those aimed at mitigating the escalating prices of basic commodities.
“While we already passed almost all of our priority bills listed under the LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) and the SoNA (State of the Nation Address), we want to accelerate the passage of other House priority legislations,” the House chief said.
Several bills that were endorsed by the administration and the LEDAC are now in the advanced stages, the majority of which have already hurdled the House.
The LEDAC-endorsed bills align with the Marcos administration’s Agenda for Prosperity, or socio-economic policy.
Romualdez, in a speech late Wednesday, bared that of the 17 priority bills of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his second SoNA last July, ten have been passed by the House.
These include the two ratified bicameral conference committee reports on the Local Government Unit Income Classification Act, the Ease of Paying Taxes Act, and eight other House bills.
Romualdez said the eight other measures are the Fiscal Regime for the Mining Industry, the military and uniformed personnel pension, the Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, the Single-Use Plastic Bags Tax Act, the VAT on Digital Services, the Amendment to the Fisheries Code, the Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act, and the Immigration Modernization Act.
Since Congress’ second regular session kicked off in July, eight measures approved by Congress were enacted into law.
Romualdez, however, underscored that the House still has a lot on its table and that measures pending before the committees, including those in various stages of deliberation, must also be given priority during their break.