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The House of Representatives is seeking to meet the pre-Christmas timeline for the approval by both houses of the national budget of P4.506 trillion by 2021, as well as several pieces of priority legislation, including the bill that strengthens the Law against the money laundering as it resumes session today (November 16).
“We are looking forward to the bicameral conference on GAB 2021 [General Appropriations Bill] and hopefully we will be able to ratify the bicam report before Congress adjourns for the holidays, ”said House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco in a statement Sunday.
Velasco said the record budget is the government’s “most powerful tool” to fight Covid-19 and help the economy and people recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.
He promised that lawmakers would work twice as long to accelerate the Duterte administration’s remaining priority measures with the remaining four weeks of session. Congress rises on December 19 for a month of Christmas vacation.
“We need to start immediately and make the most of the remaining sessions this year to address and approve priority measures, especially those that have been certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte,” he said.
Velasco said that on the House’s agenda for approval are bills that strengthen Republic Law 9160 or the AMLA, the proposed Internet Transactions Law, and the proposed Barangay Workers Magna Carta.
House Bill 6174 that seeks to amend AMLA was previously certified as urgent by President Duterte.
Velasco said the bill would help avoid “adverse conclusions against the country, which could lead to higher cost of financial transactions for Filipino workers abroad and the local business sector.”
The bill is now in second reading after it was approved by the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries last month.
“The speedy passage of the proposed Internet Transactions Law was necessary to protect consumers, especially with the increase in online transactions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic,” Velasco said. The measure was approved by the House of Representatives Committee on Commerce and Industry during the recess.
Other priority measures identified by Velasco are the proposed Coconut Tax Fund; National Law of Land Use; Recognition of the National Government Law; Law on the Right to Adequate Food, Anti-ethnic, Racial and Religious Discrimination; and Local government resettlement program in place, in the city and near the city.
Velasco also pledged to ensure the immediate approval of economic bills that “will boost the economy and help the country overcome the devastating effects of the pandemic.”
