Belmonte vows to sustain growth, reforms as Congress adjourns

MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. vowed yesterday that the House of Representatives will continue to help in sustaining the country’s growth and implement reforms as Congress adjourned its second regular session on Wednesday.

In his adjournment message, Belmonte said the House adjourned “with great optimism that the reforms and measures we have enacted have contributed well to the larger task of national growth and development.”

He cited the historic conviction of former chief justice Renato Corona by the Senate impeachment court that was achieved due to the hard work of the House prosecution panel.

“It (conviction) was historic not merely in the sense of being the first but because it now sets the standard by which the fitness and integrity of a public official can be gauged accordingly. The dictum that no person is above the law finds its resonance and meaning in the impeachment of the chief justice,” Belmonte said.

He said Congress also closed its second regular session as the economy expanded by 6.4 percent in the first three months of the year, making the Philippines the country with the highest first quarter growth in the region.

He said the House is at the crest of public trust as the latest surveys show that “our public approval ratings continue to rise – now at 45 percent according to Pulse Asia, the best proof that our people can see that we are doing a good job.”

“Clearly, as a country, we must not lose this momentum of change and reform that is now afforded to us,” he said.

Belmonte said for the first and second regular sessions, through 128 session days, the chamber processed 3,387 legislative measures for an unsurpassed record of 27 legislative measures processed per session day.

Of the measures passed to date, 253 are national bills, 16 of which are now Republic Acts, he said.

Among the key measures that the House enacted into law are: institutionalizing kindergarten education into the basic education system, promoting financial viability and fiscal discipline in government corporations, extending the implementation of the lifeline rate under the EPIRA law, allowing the employment of night workers, providing for mandatory basic immunization services for infants and children, decriminalizing vagrancy, and the act requiring all concerned government agencies to ensure the early release of the retirement pay, pensions, gratuities and other benefits of retiring government employees, he said.

“To improve governance and promote a regime of peace and stability, we approved on third reading, among others: an act defining the maritime zones of the Philippines, establishing the archipelagic sealanes in the country, and the Internal Displacement Act,” Belmonte said.

To help reduce poverty and enhance social welfare, key measures that the chamber approved on third reading include the universal health care services to all Filipinos, the Ladderized Education Program, the Open Learning and Distance Education Act, Open High School System Act, and the Credit Assistance Program for overseas Filipino workers, the Speaker said.

Also approved on third and final reading were such critical measures as the Investments and Incentives Code of the Philippines, the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act, the creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the “sin tax” reform bill.

“And to take care of our environment, our measures approved on third reading include the Hazardous and Radioactive Waste Management Act, the Marine Protected Areas Act, Sustainable Forest Management Act, and the survey of cadastral lots in the country,” Belmonte said.

The chamber also ratified the bicameral conference committee reports on the amendments to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering law, the Data Privacy Act and the People’s Survival Fund.

“We have also adopted the Senate version of the Act Defining the Crime of Financing Terrorism,” Belmonte said.