Back to business! Passage of P5-T budget tops House’s priorities when session starts

By Billy Begas

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Sunday said that the House of Representatives will prioritize the passage of the P5.02 trillion national budget for 2022 and anti-COVID-19 measures.

Since the Bayanihan 2 law has expired, Romualdez said some anti-COVID-19 measures could be included in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) that Malacañang is expected to submit to Congress after President Rodrigo Duterte’s final State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We commit to pass the 2022 national budget before the deadline of the filing of COCs. We will take advantage of the technology, in fact the Zoom has allowed us to have an engagement that is actually much more than what has been afforded by the actual presence of each and every member of the House,” Romualdez said.

Acting on instructions from Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco, Romualdez said the House will also prioritize the approval of five bills that was recently identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

These were the proposed Philippine Virology Institute Act, Center for Disease Control Act, Amendments to the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016, Bureau of Immigration Modernization Act, and National Housing Development Act.

Romualdez said the House will also pursue the approval of other COVID-19 related measures like the Bisikleta para sa Kinabukasan Act, Online Registration of Voters, Accelerating Public Sector Investments in Local Infrastructure or local Build, Build, Build Program, and amendments to the Government Procurement Act.

He said the House will also push for the passage of the proposal to increase the social pension fund of indigent senior citizens, regulation of single-use plastic and modernization of public health emergency preparedness and response capability.

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Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)