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Friday, March 29, 2024

House promises to double down on priority bills

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Majority Floor Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez said Sunday the House leadership under Speaker Lord Allan Velasco would work double time to approve priority bills, especially Bayanihan 3, which is designed to strengthen the country’s economy and protect Filipinos from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We resume the session on Monday (today) with a full plate of priority bills scheduled for plenary deliberation before we adjourn sine die this week,” Romualdez said.

“Speaker Lord Allan Velasco wants to place on the front burner the passage of the proposed Bayanihan 3 and the economic Charter change under Resolution of Both Houses No. 2 on third and final reading,” he said.

Despite the push from the House, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Senate is unlikely to pass Bayanihan 3 before it adjourns on June 4.

“Whatever bill they will pass in the House of Representatives, if it has no counterpart in the Senate, and if it is not transmitted to our chamber immediately, then we cannot act on that. We only have four days [before adjournment],” he said in Filipino.

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Last week, the House passed the P401 billion Bayanihan 3 bill on second reading.

But Sotto said Bayanihan 3 was not even discussed at the recent meeting of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

Sotto also said the Senate would not give priority to attempts to amend economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.

Instead, the Senate will focus on important measures such as the bills amending the Public Service Act and the Foreign Investments Act.

Sotto said they will also give priority to passing the bill creating the Department of Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Ray Villafuerte on Sunday said the House leadership would just fritter away “precious time” should it go ahead this last session week on giving its final nod to Charter change (Cha-Cha), considering that senators are not inclined to pursue constitutional reform in the 18th Congress.

“Why fritter away the House’s precious time this last session week prior to adjournment on passing RHB 2 (Resolution of Both Houses No. 2) on third and final reading, when it seems certain Cha-Cha doesn’t have a chance of happening in the Senate between now and next year?” he said.

RHB 2 is “practically dead in the water” as key Senate leaders, among them are Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senator Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares, who chairs the committee on public services — have separately shot down this proposal to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution as soon as the House had passed it on second reading.

“Hence, going through the motion of passing RHB 2 on third and final reading will just be an exercise in futility, especially when the House leadership could better spend the precious hours this last remaining session week… on more urgent measures, such as on COVID-19 response and economic recovery,” Villafuerte said.

A more pragmatic and faster route to attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows is for both the House and the Senate to speed up committee and plenary deliberations on three investor-friendly amendatory bills that President Rodrigo Duterte certified as urgent measures.

“Now is the wrong time to pursue the highly divisive and counterproductive Cha-Cha when national attention should remain focused on (coronavirus disease-19) COVID-related priorities, such as reversing vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos and fast-tracking the nationwide rollout of anti-coronavirus jabs, plus undertaking measures to boost consumer and business confidence and thus accelerate the economic recovery,” Villafuerte said.

“The House leadership’s continued fixation with RHB 2 becomes a truly waste of the chamber’s time when one considers that our senators do not seem to be in a mood to dance the Cha-Cha,” he said.

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