MANILA, Philippines — Both chambers of Congress are confident that they will pass five priority measures before the year ends, Senate President Francis Escudero said on Wednesday, September 25.
Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez met with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the sixth Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) Meeting in Malacañan Palace.
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“We expect five of these bills to be finished and enacted on the part of the Senate and the House before the year ends and before we go on our Christmas break. When we resume, we expect to be able to pass on the part of the Senate about three to five more of these measures totaling, therefore, an additional of 13 before we go on formal break and end the 19th Congress,” Escudero said.
The LEDAC is a consultative body that advises the president on what programs and policies could help realize the country’s economic goals.
The House of Representatives, under Romualdez, only needs to pass two measures by the end of the year to hit the goal of five LEDAC priority measures:
- Foreign Investor Long-term Lease Amendments
- Amendments to the Agrarian Law
Meanwhile, the Senate needs to pass all five measures to meet their year end goal:
- Foreign Investor Long-term Lease Amendments
- Amendments to the Agrarian Law
- Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act
- Department of Water Resources
- EPIRA Law amendments
However, Congress also needs to pass the national budget, which the president has certified as urgent.
Escudero has vowed that the Senate could pass the measures before their break, despite pending high-profile hearings, such as that of doomsday pastor Apollo Quiboloy and the ongoing hearings on Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.