House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said Sunday the proposed Salary Standardization Law 5 for civilian state workers, and the postponement of the May 2020 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls to May 2023, are among the priority measures for approval of the House leadership before the 18th Congress’ adjournment in December.
Romualdez, the House committee on rules chairman, made the announcement after attending the meeting of the Legislative-Executive Coordinating Council, where the initial list of its common priority measures for inclusion in President Rodrigo Duterte’s legislative agenda had been identified.
The other measures to be taken up for immediate approval include the creation of the Department of Overseas Filipino Workers and free legal aid to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Let’s wait for the official communication from the Palace about the final list of the priority legislative measures it would be submitting to Congress,” Romualdez said.
“These are just the initial list. In the meantime, we have agreed to pursue these as our common priority measures.”
The House leadership is “eying the passage of the common legislative measures before Congress adjourns this December,” Romualdez said.
He said the Salary Standardization Law 5 was another manifestation of the President’s compassion to government workers.
“We will work very hard to ensure funding for their salary increase,” he said.
According to Romualdez, the House leadership is forging a tighter coordination with the Palace and the Senate to avoid even a single presidential veto of the bills to be approved by the 18th Congress.
“Under the leadership of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, we are committed to expeditiously act on these measures. We will continue to work in harmony with the Senate and Cabinet members to pursue and realize President Duterte’s desire of ensuring a comfortable life for the Filipinos,” Romualdez said.
“The House leaders will exhaust all means possible to make sure that the executive and the legislative departments are always in one direction with regard to the version of the priority and certified bills filed in the 18th Congress. We do not want to put to waste all the resources, time and effort which are normally spent in passing bills.”
