HOUSE Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Representative Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe on Thursday announced that the House leadership has completed constituting all its 65 standing committees and 15 special committees with Tuesday’s election of three chairpersons to fill the remaining vacancies.

The House plenary has elected Rep. Jorge Bustos of the PATROL Party-list as chair of the Committee on Veteran Affairs and Welfare, Agusan del Sur Rep. Alfelito Bascug as chair of the Special Committee on Persons with Disabilities, and Davao de Oro Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora as chair of the Special Committee on Strategic Intelligence.

Also elected was Rep. Bustos as vice chair of the Special Committee on Strategic Intelligence; Pangasinan Rep. Arthur Celeste as member of the Committee on Agrarian Reform; Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr. for the Committee on Dangerous Drugs; Caloocan City Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon-Uy for the Committee on Health; Misamis Oriental Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano for the Committee on National Defense and Security; Iloilo Rep. Raul Tupas for the Committee on Environment; Parañaque City Rep. Edwin Olivarez for Public Accounts; and Abra Rep. Ching Bernos for the Committee on Ways and Means.

“All of our standing committees and special committees are 100 percent filled up and ready to carry out their mandate as provided under the Constitution,” Dalipe said.

“I feel relieved that we have finally filled up the organizational gaps. Now we are ready to focus on our primary mandate, which is to create legislations that can make life better for our people,” Dalipe said.

Dalipe said the full constitution of all the committees is very crucial for the expeditious passage of the Marcos administration’s priority legislative agenda and the timely approval of the P5.268 National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2023.

Dalipe said Speaker Martin G. Romualdez has listed the following priority legislations, which he hopes would be acted upon by all the House panels during the 19th Congress:

1. Creation of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone

2. Creation of the Eastern Visayas Development Authority (EVDA)

3. Creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience

4. Internet Transaction Act/ E-Commerce Law

5. Waste-to-Energy Bill

6. On-Site, In-City Near City Local Government Resettlement Program

7. Amending the Philippine Passport Act

8. Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE)

9. Medical Reserve Corps

10. Mandatory establishment of evacuation centers in every city, province, and municipality throughout the country/ Permanent Evacuation Centers

11. National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention

12. Creation of the Virology Institute of the Philippines

13. Open Access in Data Transmission

14. Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission

15. Unified System of Separation, Retirement, and Pension for Uniformed Personnel

16. Ordaining the Development of the Downstream Natural Gas Industry

17. E-Governance Act

18. Free Legal Assistance for Police and Soldiers

19. Online Registration of Voters

20. Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act

21. National Defense Act

22. Rightsizing the National Government

23. Budget Reform Act

24. Apprenticeship Act

25. SIM Card Registration Act.