Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan has urged President Marcos to certify as urgent four progressive bills to advance his administration’s transparency, good governance, and anti-corruption campaigns.

In an interview on Thursday, Dec. 11, the senator welcomed the inclusion of his sponsored measure—Senate Bill (SB) No. 1512 or the Independent People’s Commission (IPC) Act—in the Marcos administration’s legislative agenda.

“It’s a welcome move on the part of the President pero palagay ko, mas aani ng maraming suporta sa mga kababayan natin kapag cinertify niya na urgent yung apat (but I think he would gain much more support from our people if he certified all four as urgent),” he said.

The senator is referring to the IPC Act and three other measures also included in the President’s legislative agenda—the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill, the Party-list System Reform Act, and the Citizens Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability (CADENA) Act.

When asked why the certification was necessary, he explained that doing so would greatly enhance the bills' chances of enactment.

The senator himself was invited to attend the LEDAC meeting earlier this week to present the IPC Act, a bill principally authored by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. Pangilinan sponsored it in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Certifying the bill as urgent expedites the legislative process since it does away with the requirement of a three-day interval between second and third reading. This means that an urgent bill can be approved on second and third reading on the same day.

However, the bill still requires the needed votes in both the lower and upper chambers to pass.

Malacañang recently said that just because President Marcos did not certify the four priority bills as urgent, it does not mean that he lacked sincerity in wanting them passed as soon as possible.