SPEAKER Martin G. Romualdez on Sunday said the House of Representatives will ratify the Marcos administration’s P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023 and the passage on the third and final reading of 16 to 18 of the 30 [initial] remaining Legislative-Executive Development Advisory (LEDAC)-priority measures before Congress goes on Christmas break starting December 17.

Romualdez said the House of Representatives will resume its regular sessions this Monday, November 7, with a full plate of must-pass legislation for efficient public service, job creation, health, and economic recovery to protect the country’s most vulnerable sector from the endemic stage of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) and global inflation.

“Of course, on top of our priority list is the final approval or ratification of the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget. We will have a budget before the end of the year,” Romualdez said.

The Senate will tackle the budget proposal before it goes to a Senate-House conference committee for its final version.

“One of our main priorities is the ratification of next year’s national budget to provide social safety nets for the people and help them recover from the economic displacement caused by COVID-19. We will work harder for our economy to recover with agriculture as the major engine for growth and employment,” Romualdez said.

He added that Congress will support the initiative of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to provide subsidies to the most vulnerable sectors to cushion the impact of global inflation.

Earlier, President Marcos directed continued support to the most vulnerable sectors in the form of cash transfers and fuel discounts to mitigate the impact of rising inflation.

Romualdez said he is confident that the House of Representatives will approve 16 to 18 Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) listed by LEDAC during its first meeting in Malacañang last October 10.

“We will also speed up the passage of LEDAC-priority bills, including the E-Governance Act and E-Government Act, in response to the appeal of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr.,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez said most of the priority measures were mentioned by President Marcos in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July and later adopted as the CLA of LEDAC.

Apart from the consolidation of E-Governance and E-Government Act bills, Romualdez said the rest of the 16 priority measures include the following: Medical Reserve Corps, Virology Institute of the Philippines, National Disease Prevention Management, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program, Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests of Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, Valuation Reform, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act (PIFITA), Internet Transaction Act, Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE), Department of Water Resources, The New Philippine Passport Act, Waste-to-Energy Bill, The Magna Carta of Barangay Health Work, and National Government Rightsizing Program.

The Speaker added that the House of Representatives will likewise try to pass on the third and final reading before Christmas break the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers and the Budget Modernization bills.

During the first LEDAC meeting convened by President Marcos, the 20-member council initially listed 32 priority measures to boost the country’s economy.

Romualdez said some of the 32 LEDAC-priority measures have already been passed by Congress and signed into law by President Marcos, particularly Republic Act (RA) No. 11934 or the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Act and RA No. 11935 or the postponement of the 2022 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) from December 5, 2022, to October 30, 2023.

The 11 other remaining CLA under LEDAC are the Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension bill; National Land Use Act, National Defense Act, Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Ga

Industry, Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA), Establishment of Regional Specialty Hospitals, Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, Establishing the Negros Island Region, The Apprenticeship Act, Providing Free Legal Assistance for Military and Uniformed Personnel, The Creation of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone, and The Creation of the Eastern Visayas Development Authority.