Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Monday rallied his colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass all the remaining priority bills in the 18th Congress, particularly legislative measures that would further help Filipinos navigate and recover from the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we enter the final year of our present term in Congress, it is time for that one last big push,” Velasco told House members in a speech delivered during the opening of the third and final session of the 18th Congress.
The House chief made the call ahead of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) to a joint session of Congress later in the afternoon.
Velasco said the House was on track to approve the remaining legislative priority measures, including the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, the Foreign Investments Act, and the Public Service Act.
“To assist in our economic recovery, we are pushing for the taxation of Philippine offshore gaming operators and E-sabong betting activities,” Velasco said, adding that the House would await and closely monitor Senate action on these measures.
According to Velasco, the House is continually learning from the pandemic and is carefully reviewing relevant policies on public health and safety.
“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.
With pandemic lockdowns and other restrictions heightened 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.
“We also recognize the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our creative industries, and fully support efforts to organize and institutionalize the Philippine creative economy,” Velasco said.
Velasco said the House will 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 attendant fiscal burden and sustainability risks.
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 would hike its tax rate from 10 percent to 25 percent.
“Nais nating makatulong bumangon at hindi makabigat sa mga kasalukuyang pasanin ng mga pribadong paaralan at mga guro,” Velasco pointed out.
Velasco said the House expects the Department of Budget and Management and government economic managers to soon submit the National Expenditure Program for 2022, which will be the last budget of the Duterte administration.
“Kailangan natin itong busisiin, himayin, at buuin nang maayos upang makasagot sa lumalaking pangangailangan ng ating bayan ngayong panahon ng patuloy na pandemya,” he said. #18thCongress #PartnersForProgress
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