With Senate help, House passes priority bills

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives was able to pass several priority measures it has listed in coordination with the Senate since the 16th Congress convened in July last year.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said yesterday that close coordination between the two chambers to craft a common legislative agenda helped Congress pass important bills despite various controversies involving certain lawmakers.

“It’s a good thing we have this arrangement of a monthly meeting with the Senate so it allows us to keep track of things, of the status of priority bills,” Belmonte said.

Congress went on a break yesterday and will resume session on May 5.

Gonzales said the two chambers earlier came up with a list of 40 priority bills of which 30 are either already passed on third and final reading or in the advanced stage of approval.

Out of the 30 measures, four are already in the committee report stage while 14 are in the advanced stages of committee deliberation — either passed by the panel or referred to the committee on appropriations for funding, he said.

“And we still have about one month to go when we resume on May 5, so those that will be approved as we adjourn sine die about June, will add up to our record,” Gonzales said.

He added there are other measures approved by the House that are not in the congressional priority list.

Belmonte said among the bills passed are the special protection for children; internally displaced persons; HIVS-AIDS prevention, strengthening of the anti-illegal drugs law, national land use policy.

Last year, the House passed the P2.265-trillion national budget and the supplement allocation for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda and other natural and man-made calamities.

According to House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap, a total of 369 bills, resolutions and other measures were approved in the chamber since Congress convened in July.

When it resumes session, the House will be tackling several landmark measures in plenary, including Resolution of Both Houses No.1, which seeks to amend the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution, and the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill, which has been pending for several years.

Belmonte said the 15th and 16th Congress have been known for enacting into law measures that met stiff opposition, like the Reproductive Health (RH) law, the amended sin tax law, and the compensation for victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime.

“So the same spirit that led to the sin tax, that led to the RH law, that led to the compensation for Marcos victims and other bills that have been languishing for more than 10 years, is the same spirit that animates the 16th Congress,” he said.