"Mrs. Arroyo is not yet done saving her country."
"Mrs. Arroyo is not yet done saving her country."
Though she served for just a year, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is one of the most effective and best speakers of the House of Representatives.
Madam Speaker credits the “tireless work and dedication” of the members of the the 17th Congress, for achieving “genuine milestones that will benefit both the present and next generation of Filipinos.”
From July 23, 2018 to June 4, when the House adjourned sine die, it passed 250 bills which became law.
Gloats GMA: “The 250 new laws were among the 880 measures we approved, which in turn were among the almost 2,500 measures we processed. All these translate to our having processed 45 measures a day—a testament to the tough work ethic of the members of the House.”
The 880 measures the House approved include all the bills highlighted by President Rodrigo Duterte in his 2018 State of the Nation Address. Early on, said GMA, “I defined our principal objective in no uncertain terms as to push for the legislative agenda of President Duterte. Our House focused on the passage of priority bills, especially those he highlighted in his 2018 SONA.”
In his 2018 SONA, Duterte wanted the Bangsamoro Organic Law passed in 48 hours. Done. This law, said Arroyo, “provides a clear and strong hope that decades of poverty and conflict in Mindanao can finally be addressed, making way for a more peaceful, intimate and unified community.”
Duterte wanted a Department of Disaster Management. Done, on Oct. 1, 2018.
The President wanted a Rice Tariffication Law. Done. It was signed on Valentine’s Day 2019.
Arroyo said the Rice Tariffication Act supports our country’s efforts to ensure food security and make our agricultural sector more viable, efficient and globally competitive.
“The law lifts quantitative import restrictions on rice, allowing Filipinos to have access to more affordable rice. It also creates a Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund that will go to programs aimed at increasing the income of Filipino farmers,” she said.
“The fund shall amount to P10 billion annually for the next six years, and seeks to provide various assistance, such as development of inbred rice seeds, rice farm equipment, and skills enhancement.”
The President wanted the second part of comprehensive tax reform. The House passed on third and final reading the TRABAHO bill on Sept. 10, 2018.
The President asked Congress to take seriously and pass the mining, alcohol, and tobacco tax increase, reform in property valuation, reform in capital income and financial taxes, and an amnesty program.
The House, under Arroyo, passed the mining tax on third and final reading on Oct. 8 last year and the alcohol tax on Dec. 3. On June 4, together with the Senate, the House ratified the tobacco tax, ready for the President’s signature.
The House passed the reform in property valuation on Dec. 12, and the reform in capital income and financial taxes on Dec. 3. For the amnesty program, the Senate worked with the House to produce a version that the President signed into law on Valentine’s Day as well.
Mrs. Arroyo is biased toward fiscal health. “I attribute the restoration of our country’s fiscal health during my administration as what provided the platform for the Philippines to eventually regain its investment grade rating internationally, as well as the infrastructure program that built more and better,” she pointed out.
“A healthy fiscal position and increased infrastructure, those were my core economic policies as President, and they are among the core economic policies of this Administration as well. Those were the economic policies that reduced our poverty level from 39 percent when I assumed the Presidency, to 26 percent when I left the Presidency. It was all anchored on fiscal reform,” recalled the former president.
President Duterte’s fiscal reform has brought the Philippines’ credit rating to just a notch below A, and which is poised to take our economy to the next level in terms of development as an upper middle income country.
GMA noted: “If we achieve the administration’s target of reducing poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022, our country’s collective economic managers would have, in just two decades from 2001 to 2022, reduced poverty from 39 percent to 14 percent. This would be a collective achievement our generation can be proud of.”
As requested by Duterte, the House rushed the Universal Health Care Bill which became law on Feb. 20, 2019.
“This notable law ensures that all Filipinos will get the health care they need, when they need it,” said Arroyo. “This means that every Filipino will be enjoying their right to have health assistance by becoming part of the National Health Insurance Program. Forms of assistance include preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and palliative care for medical, dental, mental, and emergency health services.”
Many other notable bills were enacted by the 17th Congress. They include the National ID System, the Personal Property Security Act (personal properties, aside from the house, can be used as loan collateral), the Secondary School Career Guidance Counselling Act and the First Time Jobseekers Act, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development; Institutionalizing Telecommuting as an Alternative Work Arrangement for Employees in the Private Sector; the Integrated Cancer Law; Strengthening the Policy on HIV-AIDS; Providing for the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict; Amending the Central Bank Act; Institutionalizing Energy Efficiency and Conservation.
Mrs. Arroyo is not yet done serving her country. As President, she nearly tripled the size of the Philippine economy from $74 billion 2001 to more than $200 billion in 2010. Despite that monumental achievement, her successor, BS Aquino, put her in jail, for five years, on charges that the Supreme Court later dismissed.
Today, the economy is valued at more than $330 billion.
Congratulations, Madam Speaker, my President.