House of Representatives: 428 out of 7,975 filed bills, resolutions passed

The House of Representatives on Saturday said it had approved 428 bills and resolutions out of the 7,975 filed since the 17th Congress opened in July 2016.

The House said that based on the records of the Committee on Rules, 30 laws enacted during the 17th Congress were among its 428 passed bills.

It said that since July 2016, a total of 6,549 bills and 1,426 resolutions have been filed. It also reported that a total of 420 committee reports have been submitted.

"The measures filed seek to address the priority concerns of lawmakers such as poverty eradication, public safety and order, justice, gender equality, health, education, protection of women, children and elderly, environmental protection, and rights of Indigenous Peoples, among others," the commitee said.

It said that some of the laws enacted include those providing for free tuition in state universities and colleges; free internet; the extension of the validity of the Philippine passport; and the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

“The measures filed seek to address the priority concerns of lawmakers such as poverty eradication, public safety and order, justice, gender equality, health, education, protection of women, children and elderly, environmental protection, and rights of Indigenous Peoples, among others,” said the House.

The House also said that of the 7,975 figure, 1,810 bills and resolutions wre procedding during 130 session days.

Meanwhile, 289 House bills have approved on third and final reading since July 2016. A hundred of these proposed measures are national bills, 187 are local bills, and two are joint resolutions.

Of the 100 national bills, 48 were approved since the start of the Second Regular Session.

Congress is currently on a break and will resume sessions on November 13. —Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/ALG, GMA News