CDC creation, mandatory ROTC among 6 bills eyed to be passed by year end —Zubiri

The Senate and the House of Representatives have committed to pass six legislative measures before the end of 2022, including the bills creating the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and calling for mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program. 

This was disclosed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri after the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) convened its first meeting Monday morning.

"[T]he Senate and the House have agreed to pass the following measures by year-end: Medical Reserve Corps; National Disease Prevention Management Authority/Center for Disease Prevention and Control; Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines; Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and National Service Training Program; Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law; and Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interest on Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries," Zubiri said in a statement.

During the LEDAC meeting, the Senate chief presented a total of 26 priority bills, 23 of which are measures mentioned by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Describing the meeting as a success, Zubiri said this will allow the Legislative and Executive Departments to synchronize their priority measures.

“It’s very timely that we had our first LEDAC right before budget season. That is going to be taking up most of our time in the plenary once we resume session, and we needed this LEDAC to identify the bills we must make room for alongside the budget. This LEDAC was a success in that regard," Zubiri said.

“We have had a productive meeting where we reaffirmed our commitment to  a common legislative agenda. We have pledged passage of bills which will accelerate our pandemic recovery, insulate our hardworking families from the inflationary fallout from global disruptions, and anchor our regions and sectors on stronger fundamentals to build resiliency and secure our future," he added.

The following bills will be prioritized by the 19th Congress:

• National Government Rightsizing Program;
• Budget Modernization Bill;
• Tax Package 3: Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Bill;
• Tax Package 4: Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA);
• E-Government Act;
• Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law;
• Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) Bill;
• Creation of the Department of Water Resources;
• Unified System for Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel;
• E-Governance Act;
• National Land Use Act;
• National Defense Act;
• Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry;
• Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act;
• Regional Specialty Hospitals;
• Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers;
• Waste-to-Energy Law;
• Amendments to the Passport (Lifetime Validity for Senior Citizens); and
• Creation of the Negros Island Region.

Speaker Martin Romualdez said the following bills will also be prioritized:

• Budget Modernization bill
• Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry
• Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act
• The Apprenticeship Act
• Providing Free Legal Assistance for Military and Uniformed Personnel
• Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers
• Creation of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone, and
• Creation of the Eastern Visayas Development Authority.

Zubiri assured the administration that they "can expect the same level of working relationship and coordination between our respective chambers’ leadership in passing priority legislation.”

“The cogs of the legislative mill are fully functioning. We in Congress have started on the right footing, on the right direction, kaya’t mataas po ang pag-asa namin na magiging madali ang ugnayan ng Executive at Legislative branches of government para matugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng ating mamamayan," he said.

(We in Congress have started on the right footing, on the right direction, that is why we have high hopes that the coordination between Executive and Legislative branches of government will be smooth to ensure the needs of our countrymen will be met.)

“This morning’s conference was proof of statesmanship and multi-partisanship  at work, where Senate can engage the other branch while upholding its independence and initiative on policies which serve the national interest and people’s welfare," he ended. 

Romualdez said the House is in full support of the President's entire legislative agenda.

"We will act on these with dispatch. [And] I am proud to say that the members of both houses of Congress have already filed bills on the twenty priority measures identified by President Marcos,” he added.

Romualdez then said the House will continue to invoke Rule 10, Section 48 of the House rules which authorizes the committees to dispose of priority measures already filed and approved on third reading in the immediately preceding Congress.—with Llanesca Panti/KG/AOL, GMA News