Current Senate home gets facelift

MANILA, Philippines — The present Senate building’s hallways will be adorned with paintings from the National Museum and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), as Congress gears up for the resumption of the third regular session starting today right before President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Senate President Francis Escudero clarified that there is no cost to the improvements, as the Senate entered into an agreement with the National Museum and CCP to showcase their paintings.

“Many people visit the Senate; I hope they treat the Senate walls as an art gallery. I hope we do the same in the new building when we move there. I will request that they use the walls of the Senate as a gallery for the people to see the work created by the artists,” Escudero said in an interview over dzBB.

He noted that they are also planning to hold a painting competition, to be supervised by the National Museum, so that the works of Filipino artists can be featured in the new building.

The narra wood stairs up to the second floor were covered in red carpet, and paintings from the National Museum and CCP are now hung on the walls.

Tackling LEDAC bills

Escudero will bang the gavel to open the third regular session of the 19th Congress on Monday, hours ahead of President Marcos’ SONA.

“We will focus on what was agreed upon during the recent LEDAC (Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council) meeting under the Common Legislative Agenda,” he said.

Escudero said 10 bills agreed upon during the meeting include amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA); Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill; and, Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act.

“Changing some provisions in the EPIRA law is long overdue. Amendments to the EPIRA should accelerate national efforts toward a more energy-secure country,” he said.

The CREATE MORE Act, on the other hand, would help improve the current regulations by enhancing the tax and administrative incentives available to companies, and clarifying rules on implementing VAT incentives, the Senate President added.

He said amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act would also reinforce the opening of the economy to foreign investments by extending the lease of private lands (excluding agricultural lands) to foreigners from a maximum of 75 years to 99 years from the current 50 years. This will stabilize long-term leases with the grant of a certificate of leasehold while allowing leaseholders to collateralize the land.

Aside from these three proposed measures, other priority bills in the Common Legislative Agenda include Reforms to Philippine Capital Markets to facilitate capital raising for Filipino companies through the stock market, and the archipelagic Sea Lanes Act to strengthen the country’s sovereignty over its archipelagic waters and maritime resources.

Also included in the LEDAC are the amendments to the Right-of-Way Act to expedite the implementation of critical infrastructure projects by streamlining the right-of-way acquisition and the excise Tax on Single-Use Plastics to encourage sustainable consumption and production, and reduce plastic waste generation.

Included in the pipeline is the rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime to enable the nation to better reap the benefits of the Philippines’ rich mineral resources.