Around 20 legislative measures are being targeted to be passed before year-end, Malacañang announced Wednesday.

This developed after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. convened the second Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting at Malacañan Palace in Manila, Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said in a statement.

“(About) 18 of the 20 bills were part of the 42 priority legislative measures during the first LEDAC meeting in October 2022,” Garafil said.

Garafil said the Public-Private-Partnership bill introducing amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law; the bill creating the National Disease Prevention Management Authority; the Proposed Internet Transactions Act or E-Commerce Law are among the proposed measures given go signal for legislative approval before the year ends.

She said the LEDAC is also seeking the approval of the bill creating the Virology Institute of the Philippines; the proposed Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team (Heart) Act, formerly known as the Medical Reserve Corps; the proposed Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program; and a measure revitalizing the salt industry.

Also approved were the Valuation Reform bill; the E-Government or E-Governance Act; the measure promoting the ease of paying taxes; the National Government Rightsizing bill; and the measure establishing a Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of military and uniformed personnel, Garafil said.

Garafil said the proposal institutionalizing the automatic income classification of local government units; the Waste-to-Energy bill; the proposed New Philippine Passport Act; the proposed Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers; the proposed National Employment Action Plan; and the planned amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act would also be given priority this year.

She added that the proposed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-endorsed Bank Deposit Secrecy and the proposed Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) are also being eyed to be passed before the end of December.

Up for Marcos’ signature

Garafil noted that three of the 42 priority bills are “for the President’s signature.”

These include the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund Act, the proposed Department of Health Specialty Centers Act and the proposed New Agrarian Emancipation Act.

The three laws that are also part of the 42 priority bills include Republic Act 11934 or An Act Requiring the Registration of Subscriber Identity Module; RA 11935 or the Postponement of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections; and RA 11939 or Amendment to AFP Fixed Term, Garafil said.

Garafil said the Budget Modernization bill; the proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act; the bill creating the Department of Water Resources; the proposed National Defense Act; and the proposed amendments to the Universal Healthcare Act are already “in various stages of the legislative process.”

The other priority measures include the proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA); the proposed National Land Use Act (NALUA); the proposed enabling law for the Natural Gas Industry; the proposed Apprenticeship Law; the proposed Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS); and the proposed Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE).

The proposed free legal assistance for police and soldiers; the bill creating Negros Island Region; the proposed establishment of Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone; the bill establishing Eastern Visayas Development Authority; the Philippine Immigration Bill; the proposed Comprehensive Infrastructure Development Master Plan; and the proposed Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers were also among the priority bills.

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said around 32 of the remaining 36 priority measures from the first LEDAC have been passed on third and final reading in the House of Representatives.

Garafil noted that on top of the priority bills for Marcos’ second State of the Nation Address, several legislative measures are also being proposed for inclusion in the common legislative agenda (CLA).

The CLA is a list of priority legislative measures of the Executive and Legislative branches of government, which the Council has agreed to actively pursue to be passed in Congress.

Senate’s priority bills

During the LEDAC meeting, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri also proposed nine more priority bills.

These are the Philippine Defense Industry Development Act (PDIDA); the Cybersecurity Law; amendments to the procurement provisions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act; the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act; the Batang Magaling Act, the Safe Pathways Act, the Open Access in Data Transmission Act, the Tatak Pinoy Act, and the Blue Economy Act.

“Kaya talagang gusto nating ituloy itong PDIDA, in particular, para may capability tayo na mag-manufacture ng sarili nating (That’s why, we want to push the PDIDA, so we will have the capability to manufacture our own) equipment. As we do that, we will be creating jobs, and courting foreign companies to invest here as well,” Zubiri said.

He said the proposed Cybersecurity Law seeks to develop a legal framework that would enhance cybersecurity and protection and establish protocols in their use among government agencies and vital institutions.

“It was a productive meeting, and President Marcos was very participative, with his questions on the problems and bottlenecks in some of the bills,” Zubiri said.

On the other hand, the House of Representatives proposed 15 additional bills on agriculture, industry and services, infrastructure, digital regulatory frameworks, transport, good governance, energy, environment and domestic resources.

Among them are the Excise Tax on Single-Use Plastic, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Act, and the act rationalizing Motor Vehicle User’s Charge.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also proposed two more bills, namely the Bank Deposits Secrecy Bill and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act.

“Once we resume the session, we will hit the ground running on these measures, especially on the measures that we are targeting to pass by the end of the year,” Zubiri said. (PNA)