House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

With just three days of plenary sessions left before the sine die adjournment of the first regular session, the House of Representatives bared on Thursday, May 25 that it has already given final approval to 31 out of the 42 priority bills of the Marcos administration.

“We are proud of our collective accomplishment - 31 out of 42 and counting. As of today, we have achieved a significant part of our goal in less than a year of session,”  Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement.

“I thank our colleagues for their hard work, as well as the various political parties in the House which have committed to support the passage of priority measures determined by the President and the LEDAC and the House itself,” he said

LEDAC stands for Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). Along with the legislature, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has so far identified 42 priority measures.

The latest measures from the list to be passed on third and final reading by the House are the 30-year National Infrastructure Program (2023 to 2052) Bill and the proposed National Land Use Act (NLUA)

The Speaker said the measures “aim to support the President’s vision of keeping the economy on the high growth path and generating more jobs and income opportunities for our people".

Although the first regular session of the current 19th Congress is slated to end on June 2, the House--and the Senate, for that matter--only holds plenary sessions between Monday and Wednesday.

This means that the three plenary session dates next week will be the House's last until July  24, the day Marcos delivers his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Of the 42 LEDAC bills, three have been signed by the President into law: the SIM (subscriber identify module) Registration Act, the bill postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) and the measure amending the law on the fixed term of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff and other high-ranking officers.

Another bill, which seeks to condone unpaid loans obtained by thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB)  together with their penalties, has been sent to Malacañang for Marcos' signature.

The 11 measures that are still undergoing deliberation in the House at various levels are the 1) Bureau of Immigration Modernization Act, 2) Philippine Salt Industry Act; 3) Natural Gas Industry Enabling Law, 4) National Employment Action Plan, 5) Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System Bill, 6) Department of Water Services and Resources Act, 7) Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Act (EPIRA), 8) Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, 9) Budget Modernization Act, 10) National Defense Act,and 11) Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension for Uniformed Personnel Act.

Measures that have been approved on third and final reading are the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund, Magna Carta of Seafarers, E-Governance Act / E Government Act, Negros Island Region, Virology Institute of the Philippines, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act, National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Medical Reserve Corps, Philippine Passport Act; Internet Transaction Act / E Commerce Law, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Free Legal Assistance for Police and Soldiers, and Apprenticeship Act,

Also passed on third reading are the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, Valuation Reform, Eastern Visayas Development Authority, Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone, Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery, National Citizens Service Training Program, and National Government Rightsizing.