Congress will resume regular sessions today after a five-week break and focus on passing the P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 and the few remaining priority bills of the administration.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez underscored the House’s commitment to prioritize the swift ratification of the 2024 spending plan and to deliver the budget bill to President Marcos for signing before the end of the year.
“The budget is the lifeblood of our nation’s progress and development. The House is fully dedicated to the task at hand, ensuring that the national budget is ratified and enacted on time to guarantee the continuity of essential services, support economic growth, and promote the well-being of our citizens,” Romualdez said.
In the Senate, Senator JuanAngara will sponsor the budget measure, after which plenary debates on the General Appropriations Act will begin.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said he is upbeat they will be able to pass the budget bill on time as senators will focus on the spending plan “morning until night time” if needed.
After extensive deliberations, the House on Saturday submitted to the Senate the approved 2024 General Appropriations Bill with P194.5 billion realigned for security, inflation protection and food security.
Romualdez said the House will tackle other equally important bills, including the remaining 11 key legislative priorities outlined mostly in both the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) and President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address last July.
Under LEDAC, the pending bills are the Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission, Tatak-Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) Act, and the Blue Economy Law, all of which were already approved by the respective mother committees and are waiting for comments of the House committee on appropriations.
Also to be tackled are amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or Republic Act No. 9136, the Government Procurement Reform Act, and the Cooperative Code, are all under committee/technical working group, and Budget Reforms Modernization, National Defense Act, New Government Auditing Code, and Philippine Defense Industry Development Act, all of which are still under committee deliberations.
From the SONA, seven bills are still pending, but six of these are also listed as LEDAC measures.
The measure that is not listed by the LEDAC is the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge/Road User’s Tax.
“Our primary focus continues to be the legislative agenda outlined by President Marcos, and we are fully committed to working diligently to pass these vital bills for the betterment of our nation,” Romualdez said.
Of the 17 SONA 2023 priority measures, one has been enacted into law, one has been ratified by the bicameral conference committee, and eight have been approved by the House on the third and final reading.
The Automatic Income Classification Act for Local Government Units has already become law, and the Ease of Paying Taxes bill has successfully completed the bicameral conference process. Notable bills like the Excise Tax on Single-Use Plastics and the VAT on Digital Services have passed the third reading.
Romualdez emphasized the importance of cooperation between the legislative and executive branches through the LEDAC, recognizing that unity and collaboration are essential in developing effective policies and reforms.
For his part, Villanueva said other bills to be passed are the Tatak Pinoy Act and other public works measures.
Villanueva said other priority measures are already in the advanced stages of legislation.
These are the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage and the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Accounting System (PENCAS).
Set for interpellation are the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Plan, a waste to energy bill, the Self Reliant Defense Posture Program, Blue Economy Act, and the Philippine National Police Reorganization.