With 100% House approval of 19 Malacañang priority bills

WITH the House of Representatives greenlighting all 19 bills endorsed by Malacañan Palace for congressional approval three months ahead of the June 2024 target, National Unity Party (NUP) president LRay Villafuerte has proposed that the bigger chamber now tackle other measures similarly in support of President Marcos’ goal of spelling better lives for all Filipinos under Bagong Pilipinas when the 19th Congress resumes sessions this week.

Villafuerte, who represents CamSur’s second legislative district, said the House’s remarkable feat under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez of approving ahead of schedule all 19 bills that the President wants passed this second regular session of the 19th Congress has “given us leeway in the chamber to tackle before our sine die adjournment equally important bills giving financial relief to other sectors, other than senior citizens, solo parents and PWDs (persons with disabilities).”

He said the House can, for example, mull over pending bills granting separate benefits to farmers, fisherfolk, electricity consumers and “junior citizens,” or Filipinos from the time they are babies up to when they are pre-teeners or 12 years of age.

“Improving the lives of all by granting benefits to more sectoral groups is in keeping with the President’s commitment to not leave any Filipino behind in his vision for a peaceful and prosperous Bagong Pilipinas,” Villafuerte said.

“Extending succor to these additional sectors is in order, given that we in the Congress have already written laws providing cash aid, price discounts, and other forms of economic privileges and financial relief to such priority sectors as senior citizens, solo parents and PWDs,” said Villafuerte, who himself had co-authored various laws benefitting the elderly and solo parents.

Villafuerte is a lead author of RA 11916, or the “Social Pension for Indigent Seniors Act” of 2022, which doubled the monthly pension of indigent elderly Filipinos to P1,000; as well as RA 11982, which granted a cash reward of P10,000 to seniors when they reach 80, 85, 90 or 95 years old.

RA 11982 amended RA 10868, or the “Centenarians Act of 2016,” which granted a cash gift of P100,000 to every Filipino who becomes a centenarian or reaches the age of 100.

Villafuerte is also a lead author of RA 11861 that granted financial benefits and other privileges to single parents.

Both the House and the Senate will reopen April 29 after a five-week break for Lent, and will hold the last remaining plenary sessions and committee meetings of the second regular session of the 19th Congress for the next 4 weeks until its sine die adjournment on May 25.

After co-writing a law condoning almost P58 billion in debts of over a half-million agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARB), Villafuerte has proposed a first-ever pension plan for farmers and other agricultural workers.

One of the bills that the Congress can consider, he said, is HB 7963, which mandates the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) to craft and manage a first-ever Agricultural Pension Fund (APF) to provide benefits to our farmers and fisherfolk when they retire from work.

“Our agricultural workers, especially farmers and fisherfolk, are among the poorest groups in our society and are not covered by any pension program of the government,” Villafuerte said. “Hence, HB 7963 seeks to establish an Agricultural Pension Fund to provide our agricultural workers with pension benefits when they reach the age of retirement.”

Villafuerte, a former CamSur governor, authored HB 7963 with Bicol Saro Rep. Brian Raymund Yamsuan.

Another bill up for House consideration, he said, is HB 8312, which proposes the automatic free coverage of “junior citizens” under the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) of the National Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

In addition to mandatory PhilHealth coverage, “junior citizens” belonging to families with annual incomes of less than P250,000 each are entitled under HB 8312 to more benefits, including free medical and dental services and laboratory fees in government health facilities, along with a 20% discount and Value Added Tax (VAT)-exemption on medical plus dental services, and laboratory and professional fees in private hospitals and clinics.

These “junior citizens” from poor and low-income families are also entitled under Villafuerte’s bill to free pediatric vaccinations available at the Department of Health (DOH), and a 20%-discount and VAT-exemption on the purchases by their parents or guardians of their medicines and milk supplements.

The 20% discount and VAT-free privileges of “junior citizens” from low-income families also applies under HB 8312 to the admission fees charged by theaters, cinema houses and concert hall, circuses, leisure and amusement; and the funeral and burial services for “junior citizens” who pass away.

The former governor has introduced likewise a trio of tax cuts to pull down the cost of electricity and petroleum products, as a way to help Filipinos cope with elevated inflation, which is driven in part by the global oil shock.

In HB 8231, Villafuerte seeks to amend various sections of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) of 1997 by imposing a temporary suspension for three years of, or a 50% cut on, certain tax payments, to lower electricity rates and the retail prices of fuel products.

He filed HB 8231 in a bid for the 19th Congress to mitigate the effects of the imposition of VAT and the increased excise taxes on petroleum products and coal that are too much of a burden on the consumers and businesses in the face of sticky elevated inflation.

HB 8231 proposes to amend Section 109 of the NIRC by exempting from VAT payment the system loss charge in the sale of electricity for a period of three (3) years from the date of effectivity of this Act.

It also wants to amend Section 148 of the NIRC by reducing by 50% for three years the excise tax payments on petroleum products.

Prior to the lawmakers’ Lenten break, Romualdez reported the 100% passage by the House—three months ahead of schedule—of all 19 priority measures that the President had identified with the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for priority congressional action by June 2024.

These 19 measures passed on third and final reading by the House before the Lenten recess include those establishing the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS), the Negros Island Region, Philippine Maritime Zones Act, Philippine Defense Industry Development Act/Self-Reliant Defense Posture Act, Valuation Reform Act, Waste-to-Energy Act, E-Governance Act, Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Reform Act, Blue Economy Act, and the National Citizens Service Training or NCST program (formerly the Reserve Officers Training Corps or ROTC program).

Also passed by the House were the priority bills amending the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act and the Government Procurement Reform Act; establishing the Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act (AFASA), Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry, Value Added Tax (VAT) on Digital Services, Open Access in Data Transmission Act, and Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program and the Corporate Recover and Tax Incentives for Enterprises-Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE); and creating the Department of Water Resources and Services (DWRS).

Villafuerte had co-authored the E-Governance, Blue Economy, NCST (ROTC), PENCAS, Negros Island Region, Waste-to-Energy Act, Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act and the Government Procurement Reform Act, AFASA and DWRS bills.

The House has actually passed all but three of the 59 bills that have thus far been listed fir priority action by President Marcos and the LEDAC.

These House-passed bills include 15 of the 61 that President Marcos had signed into law.

Villafuerte had authored or co-authored 41 of the House-approved priority bills.

The NUP president lauded Romualdez for the swift House action on the government’s priority legislative measures designed to sustain the robust post-pandemic growth, create more jobs and livelihood opportunities, and improve the lives of Filipinos.

He said that Romualdez earlier traced the impressive performance of the hardworking House to the continued unity and cooperation of all lawmakers in supporting the common legislative agenda for the greater interest of the Filipino people.

However, he said, Romualdez had “overlooked that such a House feat was made possible only by the remarkable role that the Speaker had played in shepherding the passage in the bigger chamber of these priority bills that the President and LEDAC had identified for urgent action.”

LEDAC is the consultative body created under Republic Act (RA) 7640 in 1992 to draw up with, and recommend to, the President socio-economic development goals, including helping identify the priority legislative measures for the Congress to pass in support of these objectives.

“Under Speaker Martin’s very able leadership, the House has passed a fairly good number of legislations and proposed laws designed to bring the Marcos administration closer to the President’s paramount goal of high and inclusive growth for Filipinos by way of accelerating poverty reduction, supercharging the economy, and creating more and better jobs and livelihood opportunities for all.”

Villafuerte heads the NUP, which, with 45 members, is the biggest power bloc in the House next to the Romualdez-led ruling Lakas-CMD.

The NUP earlier declared its continued support for the Speaker and the Congress’ common legislative agenda with the Chief Executive, according to Villafuerte, “in line with the commitment of President Marcos to not leave any Filipino behind in his vision for high and inclusive growth for the Philippines.”

“The NUP will continue to back Speaker Martin till the end of the 19th Congress in 2025 and support the legislative agenda of President Marcos till the end of his term in 2028,” Villafuerte said.

For Villafuerte, Romualdez’s “decisive, result-oriented leadership” has transformed the House into a “pivotal partner” of President Marcos in his quest for Bagong Pilipinas where high growth is sustainable and inclusive for all Filipinos.