Barzaga: Romualdez one of House’s most productive, diligent, industrious leaders

A SENIOR leader of the House of Representatives on Sunday attributed the high public satisfactory ratings of the chamber to a hardworking set of leaders led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and a competent set of members who made it a priority to pass important pieces of legislation for the welfare of the nation and the people.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, said members of the House take their cue from Speaker Romualdez, who is visibly “one of the most productive, diligent and industrious leaders the lower chamber has ever seen.”

“If our leaders are busy, we are all busy. We take after the example of our beloved Speaker. We move at his pace. This is the reason the House of Representatives has been very productive in passing bills and resolutions, owing in no small part to its leaders,” Barzaga said.

According to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) public satisfaction survey, the House of Representatives led the list of government agencies that obtained high satisfaction ratings, garnering a score of +53 in a survey conducted from December 10 to 14 that remained in the purview of “Very Good.”

The survey also indicated that 63 percent of the respondents expressed satisfaction with the chamber, while only 7 percent were dissatisfied.

“I am very glad that the Filipino people recognize our hard work here in the House of Representatives. But let me clarify that we do not work to get recognition. We work because it is our sworn duty and mandate,” Barzaga said.

“And also, this is due to the goals and objectives set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his first State of the Nation Address. I think we are almost done with his legislative priorities,” he added.

Before the Lenten season break of the House of Representatives last month, the chamber has approved on third and final reading 23 of 31 bills identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) as priority measures of the Marcos administration.

Signed into law by the President are two measures: the SIM Registration Act now in effect and the bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October this year.

Aside from these, there are 20 other LEDAC-endorsed bills – collectively known as the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) of Malacañang and Congress – that were approved on third and final reading: Magna Carta of Seafarers, Negros Island Region, E-Governance Act / E-Government Act, Virology, Institute of the Philippines, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act, National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Medical Reserve Corps, Philippine Passport Act; Internet Transaction Act / E-Commerce Law, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Free Legal Assistance for Police and Soldiers, Apprenticeship Act, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, Valuation Reform, Eastern Visayas Development Authority, Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery, National Citizens Service Training Program, and Rightsizing the National Government.

One LEDAC bill, the Agrarian Reform Debts Condonation, is now up for approval by the bicameral conference committee.

The eight other LEDAC bills pending in the House are the: Regional Specialty Hospitals (for second reading approval), Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry (under technical working group or TWG deliberation), National Land Use Act (TWG); Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission (TWG), Electric Power Industry Reform Act (for committee deliberation), Budget Modernization (for committee deliberation), National Defense Act (for committee deliberation), and Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension for Uniformed Personnel (also for committee deliberation).

“I am almost certain that the House of Representatives will hit the ground running in passing these remaining measures of the LEDAC, once sessions resume in May. And during the break, the Speaker has even authorized committees to conduct hearings. So we can still work during recess,” Barzaga said.