Marcos pushing for passage of 28 bills

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is seeking the passage of at least 28 measures aimed at sustaining economic growth, addressing poverty, ensuring food security and maintaining peace and order and the ratification of four conventions on the safe use of nuclear energy.

The bills and nuclear-related agreements were listed in the technical report for Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (SONA), which provided a detailed discussion of the government’s programs on the economy, food and water security, social development, environment, national security, peace and prosperity and good governance.

To achieve its goal of advancing economic transformation and growth, the Marcos administration is calling for the passage of the proposed Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy or the CREATE MORE Act, the fourth package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, the bill imposing excise tax on single-use plastics, the motor vehicle users’ tax, value added tax on digital services and the rationalization of the mining fiscal regime.

“We are strengthening our efforts to improve the collection of revenues by ensuring ease of paying taxes, accelerating digitalization programs, improving non-tax revenue collections and pushing for the privatization of government assets that will lead to operational efficiency and higher investment returns,” Marcos said in the report.

The President listed eight measures that seek to benefit the agriculture and water sectors, namely the proposed National Land Use Act, Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law, amendments to the Cooperative Code, amendments to the Fisheries Code, the proposed Blue Economy Act, the bill on farm-to-market road development acceleration and the bill creating the Department of Water Resources.

To boost efforts to protect the environment, ensure a sustainable energy future and make the Philippines climate-resilient, Marcos called on Congress to ensure the immediate passage of the proposed amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or EPIRA, waste-to-energy bill, nuclear energy bill and Philippine downstream natural gas industry bill.

Marcos is also pushing for the passage of three measures that seek to bolster the Philippines’ territorial integrity, namely the proposed Philippine Coast Guard Modernization Act; the Philippine maritime zones bill and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act.

He likewise urged Congress to pass the amended Philippine Immigration Act to “strike a balance between protecting the country’s borders and encouraging our friends and allies to travel to and invest in the Philippines” and the proposed Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act to enhance the country’s overall defense posture.

The government’s plans on digital transformation and good governance, the President added, would be strengthened through the passage of the bill on the National Government Rightsizing Program, the New Government Auditing Code, the proposed Konektadong Pinoy Act or the Open Access on Data Transmission Act, the proposed E-Governance Act and the budget modernization bill.

Also mentioned in the SONA technical report was the new Government Procurement Reform Act, which was signed into law last Saturday.

Marcos said he is also pursuing the ratification of nuclear-related conventions to help facilitate the adoption of nuclear energy in the Philippines, namely the Convention on Nuclear Safety, Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management; Protocol to Amend the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage.