House Speaker Martin Romualdez (MANILA BULLETIN)



House Speaker Martin Romualdez is employing a team approach in his bid to get as much work done as possible in the final month of the 19th Congress. Romualdez opened plenary session Monday afternoon, May 8 seemingly to rev up everybody's engines, with the finish line being the House of Representatives' sine die adjournment on June 2. “As we face the remainder of the first regular session, we have merely four weeks to complete our legislative agenda that has been prescribed by no less than our President in his first SONA (State of the Nation Address), plus those that have been identified as priority measures in the LEDAC (Legislative Executive Advisory Council),” Romualdez said. “Later this afternoon (Monday) I will engage with our party leaders to see how we can make sure that the remainder of these four weeks before we adjourn sine die is used most efficiently and maximized so that we can achieve our goals in making sure that the common legislative agenda, not just of both Houses, but that of the executive are achieved," added the Leyte1st district congessman. On Sunday, May 7, the House leader bared that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. approved 11 additional bills, including the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) as part of the LEDAC list. This brought to 42 from the original 31 the total number of Marcos priority measures. Out of the 42 priority measures, the Romualdez-led House has already approved 28 on third and final reading. The 11 bills are 1. Amending the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Fixed Term Bill, which has been transmitted to the President; 2. Ease of Paying Taxes, 3. Maharlika Investment Fund, 4. Local Government Unit Income Classification, and 5. Amendment to Universal Health Care Act, which have already been sent to the Senate; 6. Bureau of Immigration Modernization and 7. Infrastructure Development Plan/Build Build BuildProgram, which are now for committee report preparation; 8. Philippine Salt Industry Development Act; 9. Philippine Ecosystem, and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS), 10. National Employment Action Plan, and 11. Amendment to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, which are under committee/technical working group (TWG) discussion. “I implore all of you to continue the hard work that has now become the hallmark of the 19th Congress, a most hard-working and diligent Congress we have been. And I believe that we can still do much, much more in the furtherance of the interest of the Filipino people," Romualdez said. Before this, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) reported to the House plenary the results of the five-day official visit of President Marcos to the United States (US), which he characterized as “the most productive and the most successful one and has brought Philippine-US relations to its greatest heights in recent years.” “I’m proud to say that we, in conjunction with the executive, had done our work with our counterparts in Capitol Hill in furthering and in enhancing and in deepening the relationships between the two countries, the Philippines and the United States---long historical allies---particularly during this period of uncertainty, post-Covid and the tensions that affect our region,” he added.