THE Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to enact five more bills before the Christmas break or before year end, Senate President Francis Escudero said on Wednesday.
During the 6th Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council’s (LEDAC) full meeting at the Malacañan Palace, Escudero said both legislative chambers will also pass additional measures before the end of the session of the 19th Congress.
“We expect an additional five of these bills to be finished and enacted on the part of the Senate and the House before the year ends and before we go on our Christmas break,” Escudero told President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. who presided over the LEDAC meeting at Malacañang.
“When we resume, we expect to be able to pass on part of the Senate about three to five more of these measures, totaling therefore an additional 13 before we go on formal break and end the 19th Congress,” he said.
Speaker Martin Romualdez, for his part, said the House has accomplished all but two of the priority legislative measures.
“And we are confident that before the year ends, we shall have finished all by December or six months in advance,” Romualdez said, adding they are most delighted under the new Senate leadership, which he said is “more dynamic and proactive.”
“We are very, very happy to see the progress and much more efficient man in which the priority legislation for our congressmen, the local bills, as well as national are being undertaken. And we praise the Senate for this new development. And we are one with the Senate in fulfilling the legislative priority agenda of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” Romualdez said.
According to Escudero, the Senate has yet to pass the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Amendments, Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law, Universal Health Care Act, the EPIRA Law Amendments, and the New Department of Water [Resources] Bill.
On the part of the House of Representatives, the pending bills include the Foreign Investors’ Long Term Lease Amendments, and the Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law.
During the 5th LEDAC full council meeting last June, 28 measures were categorized into top and secondary priorities.
Reports from the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) showed the top priority bills are advancing, with no major pending issues, although there are concerns over the advancement of secondary priority bills.
The bills with remaining issues include the Blue Economy Act, Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Unified System of Separation, Retirement, and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP), Open Access in Data Transmission Act, Amendment to the Philippine Immigration Act, and Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law.
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