House to fast-track approval of Velasco’s priority bills

FILE: Newly installed Speaker Lord Allan Velasco bangs the gavel during the opening of a special session called by the Chief Executive for the passage of the 2021 National Budget at the House of Representatives, Batasan Hills, Quezon City on Tuesday (Oct. 13, 2020). (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)

MANILA – The House of Representatives will fast-track the approval of seven priority bills of Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said on Friday.

Romualdez said under House Rule 10 Section 48, committees are authorized to dispose of priority measures already filed and approved on third reading by the immediately preceding Congress.

The seven priority measures of Velasco pending in various stages of deliberation at the committee level that are eligible under the House rule are the Coconut Levy Fund, National Land Use Act, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Rightsizing the National Government, Right to Adequate Food, Anti-Ethnic, Racial and Religious Discrimination Act, and On-Site, In-City Near City Local Government Resettlement Program.

“We discussed ways on how to expedite the approval of pending legislative measures in compliance with Speaker Velasco’s directive to hit the ground running,” Romualdez said. “The concerned committees for these measures may meet for just one hearing and immediately refer the committee reports for plenary deliberation.

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He said Velasco is also eyeing the immediate approval of the following proposals as his priority bills: Internet Transaction Act, Military Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Pension Fund, Magna Carta for Barangays, Amendments to the Revised Penal Code, Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act, Marinduque Special Economic Zone Act, Marinduque Sports Academy and Training Center Act, and Bisikleta Para sa Kinabukasan Act.

“All other priority measures to be identified by the Speaker as his priority bills are expected to face easy sailing in the House of Representatives,” Romualdez said.

Aside from this, he said, the House leadership also included 12 economic measures in the list of bills prioritized for floor and committee deliberations to help the Duterte administration jumpstart the economy and cushion the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic on the livelihood of ordinary Filipinos.

The five measures still under plenary deliberation are House Bill (HB) 7749 or the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE); HB 7425 on Digital Transactions Value-Added Tax; HB 7406 or Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Modernization Program; HB 6135 or Fiscal Mining Regime; and HB 7425 or Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law.

Pending under committee deliberations are the Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Services Separation, Retirement, and Pension Bill; Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Modernization Bill; Coconut Farmers Trust Fund Bill; Department of Water Resources and Water Regulatory Commission Bill; Warehouse Receipts Bill; National Disease Prevention and Management Authority Bill; and the National Land Use Bill.

The 10 economic measures that have already passed the House were HB 4157 or Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Bill; HB 6816 or Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Bill; HB 6654 Converting the Insurance Commission into a Collegial Body; HB 6768 or Financial Consumer Protection Bill; HB 6136 or Motor Vehicles User Tax; HB 6134 or Rural Agricultural and Fisheries Development Financing Systems Act; HB 300 or Foreign Investment Act Amendments; HB 78 or Public Service Act Amendments; HB 59 or Retail Trade Liberalization; and HB 6927 or E-Government Act.