Yearenders can get complicated. But, in the case of the House of Representatives, the simplest way to recap the major events that took place this past year is to discuss the legislative chamber's new leadership along with its accomplishments.
The year 2022 covered with the tail end of the 18th Congress, when Marinduque lone district Rep. Lord Allan Velasco was the House Speaker. It was also an election year, meaning that change was coming right around the corner.
And it didn't take long after the May 9 polls to find out who would become the next House head honcho in the ensuing 19th Congress, as then-presumptive president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. endorsed his cousin, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez for the post.
But who is Romualdez? For insiders, Romualdez is more than just a veteran politician with a powerful relative. He is the president of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party, and is as well-liked and respected as they come in the at-time rough and tumble House.
He was also arguably the underdog of the speakership story in the previous 18th Congress, where for three years, he played the role of majoriry leader-slash-third fiddle behind would-be Speakers Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros and Velasco in what was a needlessly complicated set-up.
Clear-cut choice
On July 25, Romualdez's time finally came and he was overwhelmingly elected as Speaker by 283 House members. Also, being the clear-cut choice of his congressman-colleagues means that he won't have to constantly look over his shoulder, like the his recent predecessors.
“We will work together to ensure that the House of Representatives truly embodies the will of the people," he said during his first speech in plenary as Speaker.
"We will work hand-in-hand to ensure swift passage of House measures that are needed by the people and would support development across all sectors of society and different levels of government. With unity of purpose, there is nothing that we cannot do,” underscored Romualdez.
In the months prior to his big moment, Romualdez found himself touring the country aboard the UniTeam train and served as one of the campaign managers of vice presidential candidate Sara Duterte. Duterte was the running mate of Marcos in the elections.
Not only was the Lakas-CMD leader an early adopter of the "unity" catchword; he invested time and effort into it.
"I think everyone has really been listening to the UniTeam’s message that we can get back on our feet if we’re united," Romualdez said back in February, near the start of the campaign period. Fast-forward to the 19th Congress and he is now viewed as the President’s top ally in the legislature.
New blood in Batasan
But 2022 hasn't been all about Romualdez as far as the 312-strong lower chamber is concerned. Never in recent memory has there been this much new blood in the Batasan, as more than half of its composition are either neophyte or returning solons.
The de facto flag-bearer of this new blood has been Romualdez’s protégé, Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos. At just 28 years old, Rep. Marcos has took on the task of senior deputy majority leader.
So far the rookie solon has handled the role successfully while still achieving milestones as a legislator. Rep. Marcos already has an enacted national measure under his belt in the form of Republic Act (RA) No.11934 or the SIM Registration Act.
""He commands respect among the neophyte congressmen," Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Johnny Pimentel said of Rep. Marcos back in August. He added that the presidential son was "doing a very good job".
Also attesting to the senior deputy majority leader's capabilites was Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte, who said in late July: “Having worked with him for three years as Speaker Martin’s protege prior to Sandro’s election as congressman, I can honestly say that Sandro is even more knowledgeable about how the Congress works than some of our peers on their second or third terms."
The Ilocano himself has credited Romualdez countless times for taking him under his wing when the latter was majority leader of the previous Congress.
"For two years, I worked under him in his office in Congress and he is the reason why I am very ready to become congressman," Rep. Marcos said of Romualdez. who is his uncle.
Biggest budget
Speaking of credit, the House of Representatives earned its share of it with the early passage of the P5.268-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or national budget, culminating with President Marcos's signing of the measure measure on Dec. 16.
“As far as I can remember, the 2023 budget is one of the few spending bills signed into law in mid-December, way before the start of its implementation on New Year’s Day,” said Romualdez, who witnessed the signing first-hand.
He gave perspective on the importance of enacting a budget early: “The money needed to sustain our economic expansion momentum and keep the country on the high-growth path should be out on Jan. 1. Agencies should be ready to keep up with their programs, activities and projects, while observing transparency and accountability."
But speed shouldn't take a backseat to careful scrutiny when it comes to the budget. If he wanted to, Romualdez can brag that the House minority leader himself, 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan didn't think the GAB was railroaded despite the speed at which it was dispatched.
“Let me commend the majority, for despite its numerical superiority, it did not behave like a rampaging freight train barreling its way through the railroad of law-making,” Libanan said last Sept. 28, the day the GAB hurdled the House plenary.
The House majority bloc in the 19th Congress is headed by Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd district Rep. Mannix Dalipe, who for all intents and purposes is Romualdez’s right-hand man. Rep. Marcos is Dalipe's top lieutenant.
The 2023 national budget is first full-year budget of the Marcos administration and is the biggest in the country’s history.
31 priority bills
While the budget measure was a huge undertaking, it wasn't the sole task of the House of Representatives this past year.
Between his maiden State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 25 and the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council's (LEDAC) Common Legislative Agenda (CLA), President Marcos tasked Congress to pass a whopping 31 priority measures.
Eager to deliver, Romualdez vowed that the House would pass at least 16 of these priority bills before the end of 2022. By Dec. 15 or the final session day of the year, the House had approved 19 of the bills19 of the bills on third and final reading.
The 19 bills are the proposed Act providing for Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE), the National Service Training Program Act, National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention Act, Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team (HEART or formerly the Medical Reserve Corps Act), New Agrarian Emancipation Act, Philippine Passport Act, and Internet Transaction Act / E-Commerce Act.
The Act creating the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines, the Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), the Waste-to-Energy Act, Free Legal Assistance to Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Act, Revised National Apprenticeship Progam Act, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Act, Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), Valuation Reform Bill (Package 3), the Act creating the Eastern Visayas Development Authority (EVDA), and the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone Act have also gained the final nod of the House.
The two enacted measures of the Marcos administration so far–the SIM Registration Act and the Act postponing the December 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), are also among the government’s priority pieces of legislation.
This leaves the chamber with 12 more bills to accomplish, and most of them are already in the advanced stages of consideration. The remaining dozen priority measures are the following: 1.) the Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry; 2.) Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA); 3.) The Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension; 4.) The E-Governance Act and E-Government Act,; 5.) The National Land Use Act; 6.) The National Defense Act; 7.) The National Government Rightsizing Program; 8.) The Budget Modernization Bill; 9.) The Act creating the Department of Water Resources; 10.) The Act Establishing the Negros Island Region; 11.) Magna Carta Filipino Seafarers; and 12.) The Establishment of Regional Specialty Hospitals.
“You can count on the House to work harder next year to do our part in improving the lives of our people. I truly believe it is the best way to express our gratitude for the greatest gift all public officials have received—the opportunity to serve our country," the Speaker said.
MIF controversy
But the year 2022 wasn't without controversy. The biggest eyebrow-raiser in the House was the out-of-left-field filing of the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) or the proposed Philippine sovereign wealth fund last Nov. 28.
The fact that it was approved on third and final reading after a grand total of just 18 days certainly gave critics ammunition against the measure, which was a challenge to justify to pandemic and inflation-weary Filipinos.
That it was supposed to tap funds from pension agencies such as the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Social Security System (SSS) also made it a problematic pitch from the start, given the touchy nature of pensions and the concerns of people who depend on it.
But what is the MIF? It essentially seeks to create a new revenue stream--apart from say, the usual taxes from citizens--for the government using pooled investible funds from select government financial institutions (GFIs). These funds--to be managed by the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC)--will be invested either here or abroad for the purpose of generating profits for big-ticket government projects.
Romualdez—one of the prime movers of the MIF–said the fund was principally envisioned “as an effective vehicle to execute and sustain high-impact infrastructure projects, urban and rural development, agricultural support, and other programs that would generate more income and economic activity in the country”.
To the credit of the proponents, the original MIF bill underwent numerous amendments at both the committee and plenary levels. Some of the changes even came from the minority bloc.
Among the first provisions to get ditched was the sourcing of seed money from the GSIS and SSS. To make it as politics-proof as possible, the approved House version of the MIF also indicated that the Department of Finance (DOF) secretary--and not the Philippine president---would head the board of directors in the MIC.
The ball is now in the court of the Senate as far as the MIF goes.