THE Senate passed 137 pieces of legislation during the first 100 days of Sen. Francis Escudero as the upper chamber’s president.
Escudero said the measures were approved from May 20 to September 26.
“It’s a scoreboard we can be truly proud of,” Escudero said, adding that of the 137 bills approved, 62 were of national application and 75 of local concerns which were tackled in the 26 session days since the Senate convened the 3rd Regular Session of the 19th Congress on July 22.
Escudero thanked his colleagues and employees of the Senate for their hard work and initiatives, and for putting particular focus on legislation that would help simplify the processes in governance, uplift the lives of the Filipino people, improve the economy, and bolster the country’s sovereignty.
He said that while several committees have been busy holding hearings on various controversies, the senators found time to craft and pass important pieces of legislations.
Of the Senate bills approved under his watch, Escudero said 13 have been signed by President Marcos Jr. into law.
He said the remaining priority measures of the administration are on the “advanced stages of discussions” and will be approved when Congress resumes session on November 4.
Both houses of Congress will be officially on recess starting today to give members who are seeking re-election the chance to file their Certificates of Candidacies for next year’s midterm elections.
The House will also take advantage of the adjournment to print its approved version of the budget bill, which it passed on third and final reading on Wednesday night.
Escudero said the General Appropriations Bill will be the Senate’s priority when they return to work in November.
“Our target is to pass the budget early to give the President ample time to review it,” he added.
Among the bills passed by the Senate are 12 of the priority bills of the Marcos Administration, including the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, which President Marcos signed recently; the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act, which was signed yesterday; the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy or CREATE MORE, Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act, the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Act, VAT on Digital Services, and the Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act.
The Amendments to the Agricultural Tariffication Act, Blue Economy Act, and the Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act are up for discussion in the bicameral conference committee.
To ensure there would be no disruption in the budget deliberations, Escudero initiated an agreement with the Philippine International Convention Center for the use of its function rooms for the conduct of other inquiries in aid of legislation by different committees as needed, as part of the Senate’s oversight function to ensure checks and balances in government.
“We have around 41 session days left before the end of the 19th Congress. We’re looking at passing as many of the priority bills of the President as possible with the little time left on our calendar. Many of these are already in the advanced stages of the legislative process. Rest assured the Senate will work overtime to pass these measures,” Escudero said.
The priority bills currently up for second reading are the following: SBN 2821, or the Amendments to the Right of Way Act; SBN 2826, or the Mining Fiscal Regime; SBN 2771, or the National Water Resources Management Act; SBN 2781, or the E-Governance Act; SBN 2699, or the “Konektadong Pinoy” bill; SBN 2474, or the Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel; SBN 2034, or the Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC); and SBN 2267, or the Waste-to-Energy bill.
Under Escudero’s leadership, the chamber also launched the Senate Assist online platform that aims to simplify access to medical and social assistance programs of the senators, in collaboration with government agencies, public health institutions and the private sector.
Initiated by the Senate Spouses Foundation, Inc., which is headed by Heart Evangelista-Escudero, the Senate Assist portal will allow individuals who require assistance to submit their requests 24/7 from anywhere in the country.
