Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez boasted that the House of Representatives has maintained productivity in approving legislations amid the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Romualdez made this call this after tallying a total of 2,598 measures in 74 session days, with 40 passing into law, 16 delivered to President Rodrigo Duterte, and 453 getting a third and final approval.

From July 22, 2019 to December 16, 2020, the average number of processed measures per day was 35, while the total number of proposed bills and resolutions was 9,743.

“Despite this challenging year, we remain unfazed and true to our mandate to enact laws that will improve the lives of the Filipino people. The accomplishments that we have this year would not be possible without the hard work of our Speaker, our colleagues both in the majority and minority, as well as our staff,” said Romualdez.

Among the notable bills that was approved on final reading this year were the House Bill 7836, which raises the age for statutory rape to 12 and the HB 7722, which punishes discrimination against women in workplaces.

Aside from those, the House Anti-Money Laundering Act (HB 7904) and the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act that seeks to improve the benefits of farmers in the country.

The HB 8063, which lengthens the availability of the Bayanihan 2 funds under Republic Act (RA) No. 11494 from December 19, 2020 until June 30, 2021, was also given an approval this month.

“We will not stop working until all the priority measures of the Duterte administration are realized and until the needs of the Filipino people are addressed. We assure the public that their representatives are doing their best to provide them with quality legislation and timely service, and that no resource is wasted,” Romualdez assured.

“The Filipino people deserve only the best,” he ended.