The House of Representatives will ratify the proposed P5.268-trillion 2023 national budget and approve, on third reading, around 16 to 18 priority measures of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) before Congress goes on Christmas break on Dec. 17, according to House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
On Monday, Nov. 7, the House will resume its thrice-a-week plenary sessions after a month-long recess to deliberate on important pending measures.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/11/05/house-to-switch-gears-as-resumption-of-sessions-near/
“Of course, on top of our priority list is the final approval or ratification of the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget. We will have a budget before the end of the year,” Romualdez said on Sunday, Nov. 6.
“One of our main priorities is the ratification of next year’s national budget to provide social safety nets for the people and help them recover from the economic displacement caused by Covid-19. We will work harder for our economy to recover with agriculture as the major engine for growth and employment,” he continued.
Aside from the budget measure, the House Speaker also said that 16 to 18 measures of the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) listed by the LEDAC would likely be passed.
“We will also speed up the passage of LEDAC-priority bills, including the E-Governance Act and E-Government Act, in response to the appeal of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.,” he added.
The other LEDAC measures dubbed as priority by the House include the following: Medical Reserve Corps, Virology Institute of the Philippines, National Disease Prevention Management, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program, Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, Valuation Reform, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), Internet Transaction Act, Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE), Department of Water Resources, The New Philippine Passport Act, Waste-to-Energy Bill, The Magna Carta of Barangay Health Work, and National Government Rightsizing Program.
Most of these measures were highlighted as priorities by Marcos during his maiden State of the Nation Address (SONA).
These measures are part of the total 32 priority bills of the LEDAC. Some of these have already been approved and even signed into law.
Two such bills are Republic Act (RA) 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act and RA 11935, which postponed the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from Dec. 5, 2022, to Oct. 30, 2023.