House makes ‘last big push’ for urgent Covid response measures (Sabong News)

AS the 18th Congress and the Duterte administration enter their last year, the leadership of the House of Representatives vowed to make “one last big push” for the passage of measures providing President Duterte additional authority to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. In his speech at the opening of the 3rd and last regular session, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco rallied his House colleagues to pass all the remaining priority bills in the 18th Congress, particularly legislative measures to further help Filipinos navigate and recover from the challenges from the pandemic. “As we enter the final year of our present term in Congress, it is time for that one last big push,” Velasco said. Velasco said top of their agenda is the passage of the proposed 2022 P5.024-trillion national budget. Velasco said the House expects the Department of Budget and Management and government economic managers to soon submit the National Expenditure Program for 2022, the last budget of the Duterte administration. Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, chairman of the House Committee on Rules, said the House intends to pass the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) before the October deadline of the filing of certificates of candidacies (COCs) for next year’s presidential polls. “We will work hard to pass the 2022 national budget before the deadline of the filing of COCs. We will take advantage of the technology, in fact, the Zoom has allowed us to have an engagement that is actually much more than what has been afforded by the actual presence of each and every member of the House,” Romualdez said. To assist the government in reviving the economy, Speaker Velasco said they will push for the taxation of Philippine offshore gaming operators and E-sabong betting activities. With pandemic lockdowns and other restrictions heightening the need for flexible and more efficient ways of doing business and administering taxes, Velasco said the House supports the Ease of Paying Taxes bill to institutionalize portability of transactions and the streamlining of compliance procedures. The House also deliberated on the proposed amendment to the National Internal Revenue Code in a bid to resolve the concerns of private educational institutions on a new Bureau of Internal Revenue policy that increases their tax rate from 10 percent to 25 percent. To address Covid-19’s impact on creative industries, Velasco said the House will also push for the institutionalization of the Philippine creative economy. “We are set to approve the Medical Stockpiling bill to allow the Department of Health to stockpile, conserve, and facilitate the supply and distribution of pharmaceuticals and vaccines for public health emergencies,” Velasco said. Also in the House priorities, he said, are the bills establishing the Virology Institute of the Philippines and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Velasco added the House will also tackle the substitute bill on the proposed Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) pension law, which seeks to institute long-needed reforms in the pension system of MUP and to address its fiscal burden and sustainability risks. Meanwhile, Velasco said Congress was on track to approve the remaining legislative priority measures, including amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investments Act and the Public Service Act. These three liberalization measures are pending in the Senate. He also asked the Senate to pass the proposed Bayanihan to Arise as One Act or Bayanihan 3 as well as Resolution of Both Houses 2, which seeks to vest the President and future Congresses with authority to relax economic restrictions in the Constitution in order to facilitate the entry of foreign players in the local scene, create new jobs, and boost sources of gross domestic product (GDP). According to Velasco, the Congress, as steady partners of the administration, passed laws that promoted economic development, strengthened the administration of justice and the rule of law, enhanced the protection of labor and social welfare, improved the quality of and increased access to education and information, enhanced health and emergency response systems, and strengthened political and governmental institutions. “We chose to keep the legislative mill running even during the height of the Covid-19 community lockdowns,” he said. Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Michael Romero urged President Duterte to certify as urgent several measures: Department of Disaster Resilience Act, Bayanihan 3 Act, Eddie Garcia Act, Philippine Virology Institute Act, Center for Disease Control Act, Amendments to the Continuing Professional Development Act of 2016, Bureau of Immigration Modernization Act and National Housing Development Act.