PRIORITY BILLS. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. shares light moments with House Speaker Martin Romualdez (right) and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri (left) during the chief executive’s 1st State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on July 25, 2022. Romualdez said the House would fast-track the approval of eight of the 19 priority bills mentioned by Marcos in his SONA. (PNA photo)
MANILA – Speaker Martin Romualdez on Wednesday said the House of Representatives would fast-track the approval of eight of the 19 priority bills outlined by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Romualdez cited House Rule 10, Section 48, which authorizes the committees to dispose of priority measures already filed and approved on the third reading in the previous 18th Congress.
The eight priority measures of Marcos that could be expedited through the House rule are Valuation Reform bill, proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), E-Governance bill, Internet Transaction bill, Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) bill, Medical Reserve Corps, National Disease Prevention Management Authority, and Virology Institute of the Philippines.
“We have the internal mechanism for an expeditious approval process that is enshrined in Rule 10, Section 48 of the House rules of procedure,” Romualdez said, adding that this particular rule would greatly hasten consideration and endorsement by any committee of any covered bill, and its eventual plenary approval.
Romualdez said the House would “also work on the immediate approval of other SONA measures the soonest time possible in order to make President Marcos’ vision of a better nation a reality.”
“We are in full support of the President’s entire legislative agenda, including the key priority proposals for legislation he has asked Congress to consider. We will act on these with dispatch,” he said.
The other priority measures mentioned by Marcos in his maiden SONA are Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension bill, Department of Water Resources bill, National Land Use Act, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program, Budget Modernization bill, National Government Rightsizing Program, National Defense Act, Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry, Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), and Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law.
“We will give these and all the other SONA measures utmost priority,” Romualdez said.
Senior Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo urged her fellow lawmakers to "stay united and dedicated" in supporting President Marcos' legislative agenda, which he mentioned in his maiden SONA on Monday.
“The President outlined 19 priority bills that will impact greatly on the people’s aspirations to return to the growth path and sustain the progress. It is the job of the 19th Congress to begin to implement the legislative task with focus, determination and momentum," Arroyo said.
She said she has filed three of the 19 priority bills mentioned by Marcos in his SONA -- bill creating the Department of Water Resources; the bill establishing a comprehensive nuclear regulatory framework and creating the Philippine Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which can be a complementary bill of the President’s proposal to amend the EPIRA; and the ROTC bill making it mandatory for senior high school students. (PNA)
