SENATE FOCUSING ON 20 PRIORITY BILLS, NOT CHA-CHA BEFORE 2ND SESSION ENDS
MANILA, Philippines — Charter change (Cha-cha) is not among priority legislations that the Senate is seeking to pass before the 19th Congress’ second regular session ends in June.
This was disclosed by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri himself in a press conference on Monday when he was asked whether or not “Cha-cha is among the priority” legislations that the chamber is seeking to pass before 2nd regular session ends.
“Not. These are all legislation. Yung Cha-cha kasi may three hearing[s] pa kami and I’ll find out in the caucus what dates are we going to Baguio, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro. After that we can discuss with the group anong plano nila sa Cha-cha,” said Zubiri.
(Not. These are all legislation. We still have three hearings on Cha-cha and I’ll find out in the caucus what dates we are going to Baguio, Cebu, and Cagayan de Oro. After that we can discuss with the group what our plans are with Cha-cha.)
The Senate on April 29 resumed its sessions after a month-long break.
Prior to resumption, Zubiri expressed confidence that the Senate will see the passage of at least 20 priority bills listed under the Common Legislative Agenda of the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council before June.
“Rest assured, all of the measures that passed Senate scrutiny have been carefully considered and thoroughly deliberated upon so that the resulting law is as near-perfect as humanly possible,” the Senate chief said.
Zubiri said one of the 20 measures is already for the signature of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System Act.
Meanwhile, the bicameral report on the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act have already been ratified by the Senate and are now in the process of enrollment.
The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act and the Self Reliant Defense Posture Act – are both awaiting bicameral conference committee approval, while the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program Act is already approved on final reading and was transmitted to the House of Representatives for action.
Three of the priority measures – the E-Government/E-Governance Act, the Department of Water Resources Act and the Konektadong Pinoy Act are all pending committee approval.
The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy Bill, which was passed on third and final reading in the House of Representatives, has already been transmitted to the Senate for proper action.
The following priority measures, on the other hand, are currently pending approval on second reading:
- Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act
- VAT on Digital Services/Transactions Act
- Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act
- Blue Economy Act
- Waste-to-Energy Act
- Mandatory Reserve Officer’s Training Corps Act
- Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of MUPs/New Separation, Retirement and Pension System for the Military and Uniformed Personnel
- Enterprise Based Education and Training Program Act
- Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act
READ: Zubiri sees Senate passage of 20 of Marcos’ priority bills in June