House to prioritize budget passage alongside 4 remaining LEDAC bills
(MANILA BULLETIN)
The House of Representatives won't lose sight of swiftly approving the P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024 or the national budget even as it tackles the four remaining priority bills of the Marcos administration that it has yet to pass. “With our firm commitment to approve the remaining priority measures agreed upon during the LEDAC meetings, various House panels will continue working during committee deliberations of the proposed 2024 NEP," House Speaker Martin Romualdez said in a statement Friday, July 7. LEDAC stands for Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC). "When the House starts plenary deliberations of the national budget, some committees may be authorized to pursue the performance of its mandate of passing vital pieces of legislation," said Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district representative. The second regular session of the 19th Congress starts on July 24, the same day that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos will deliver his second State of the Nation Address (SONA). Passing the proposed national budget is the most important task of Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, in any given year. This is by virtue of its "power of the purse", or the power to determine how and where the government spend public funds. At the same time, Romualdez said the House in determined to carry out the crafting of the priority measures of the Marcos administration. Last Wednesday, Marcos presided over the LEDAC meeting in Malacañang wherein 20 priority measures were identified. The executive sought from Congress--the House and the Senate--the approval of these bills by the end of 2023. Of the 20 bills, the Romualdez-led House only needs to approve four: the proposed National Rightsizing Program; Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUPs); National Employment Action Plan; and the Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act. The other 16 measures have already been approved on third and final reading by the lower chamber during the first regular session. Traditionally, the NEP is submitted to the House of Representatives on the day of the SONA or shortly after it.