House bills on the proposed Presidential Merit Scholarship Program and the National Land Use Act are now ripe for plenary approval, Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos said on Sunday, Feb. 22.

This, after the Committee on Appropriations approved the funding provisions for both measures, which were tagged as priority by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

Marcos noted that two LEDAC measures – the scholarship bill on merit-based support for top senior high school graduates and the land use bill that sought to establish a national framework for rational, sustainable land allocation – were already cleared by their mother committees.

"These committee-level approvals show the House is doing the hard work," said the presidential son.

Once endorsed to the House plenary, the bills would be considered for approval on second reading; then, after three session days, for third and final reading.

The scholarship measure, sponsored at the Appropriations panel by Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, institutionalizes the Presidential Merit Scholarship Program under the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd). It ensures that academically outstanding senior high school graduates have a stable legal framework of support that does not depend on shifting priorities.

On the other hand, the proposed National Land Use Act aims to put order and coherence in how the country plans and manages land resources. It provides a national framework and creates an oversight body to help resolve land use conflicts across agencies and levels of government, while requiring consultations from the regional level down to cities and municipalities.

Marcos said the House has kept the pace on the broader LEDAC agenda, with eight priority bills already on advance stages in the committee levels. This reflected what he described as a disciplined push to align legislation with the administration’s priorities and the needs of ordinary households.

“Our focus remains on bills that directly affect education, health, food security and social protection, because these are the areas where legislation turns into something families can actually feel,” Marcos said.

“Kaya we make sure that we expedite the approvals of these LEDAC measures kasi alam namin na tunay na ginhawa ang hatid ng mga panukalang ito para sa ating mga kababayan (Thus, we make sure that we expedite the approval of these LEDAC measures, because we know these proposals truly bring relief to our people)," added the Ilocano.

With the first regular session of the current 20th Congress coming to an end soon, The 300-plus strong House of Representatives is trying to get as much work done as possible.

The remaining six LEDAC priority measures that the Committee on Appropriations will now focus on are the bill modernizing the Bureau of Immigration; the proposed creation of an Independent People’s Commission; the amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act; the amendments to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act; the amendments to the Magna Carta for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, and a proposal to reset the elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).