Inflation busters, AFP upgrade on Senate, House leaders’ priority list
THE Senate will prioritize, during the third and last regular session of the 19th congress, the continuing upgrade of the military, while helping grow amicable relations with neighbors, and will push measures that assure ordinary Filipinos better incomes and access to health, education and justice.
Senate President Francis Escudero laid down these priorities in his speech opening the Senate’s Third Regular Session on Monday morning.
“This Senate is unanimous and unbending in defending our country’s sovereignty,” Escudero said, and this why it has given priority to the Maritime Zones Act and related measures.
At the same time, he said in his Monday’s opening speech, “We will strengthen our military, not to ignite any conflict,” but to keep the peace; and continue to support efforts to keep the welfare of Filipino fishermen.
“Indeed, we must work toward breaching these troubled waters,” he added, in apparent reference to the continuing tensions with China over the West Philippine Sea. He repeated an observation he had made the past few weeks, alluding to “our centuries- old amicable relations with them,” of which the current turmoil “is just a mere speck.”
He has often stressed that Filipinos have been engaging the Chinese people for centuries, way before the country was colonized by Western powers.
House to protect purchasing power
SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin Romualdez meanwhile vowed to protect Filipinos’ purchasing power and to continue supporting farmers in order to increase their productivity and reduce the price of the staple crop.
At the beginning of the Third Regular Session of Congress, Romualdez informed his colleagues that the House of Representatives “welcomes and fully supports” President Marcos’s Executive Order 62 that lowered the duty on imported rice from 35 percent to 15 percent.
“May I just add that in conjunction with the lowering of rice tariffs for the benefit of Filipino consumers, we will strive to provide all the necessary infrastructure, technological, and financial support to increase the productivity and income of our farmers,” he said.
The lower chamber already approved on third and final reading the amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law, which addresses the widening gap between rice retail and farm gate prices.
“By augmenting the rice supply and managing prices, rice becomes more affordable and, thus, accessible to all Filipinos,” Romualdez said.
He also highlighted the House’s goal of safeguarding the purchasing power of Filipinos by controlling inflation and reducing electricity costs. “The House likewise aimed to safeguard the purchasing power of our countrymen by keeping inflation under control and reducing electricity costs,” he said. The Philippine Statistics Authority recently reported a decrease in inflation to 3.7 percent in June from 3.9 percent in May, attributed to lower energy and transport costs. “The amendment to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act [Epira], which we must finish in December, is expected to further ease inflation,” he said.
Defense and security
ROMUALDEZ also reported on his recent trip to Japan, where he met with his counterpart, Speaker Fukushima Nukaga, and other Japanese lawmakers “to enhance the defense and security cooperation between our countries.” “During the meeting, we made a firm commitment to expand the trilateral cooperation among the Philippines, Japan, and the United States,” he said. They also discussed matters relating to the fair access of Philippine agricultural products to the Japanese market, the PhilippineJapan Economic Partnership Agreement, assistance for infrastructure projects through Official Development Assistance (ODA), protection of the rights of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWS), and Japanese investments. “This collaboration serves to fortify our bilateral relations and strategic partnership,” Romualdez said. He said the House is likewise addressing the “most current and pressing issues” like criminal activities linked to Philippine Offshore Gambling Operations ( Pogos) and proliferation of illegal drugs.
Wage hike
TURNING to his advocacy of a legislated wage hike and related efforts, Escudero stressed, “Our people are overworked, underpaid. A comfortable life has clearly eluded them for generations.” “It is time,” he stressed, to “reframe our work, and pivot to laws that improve their lives.” He noted how Congress has “passed a raft of laws” that help business, such as those for ease of doing business, ease of paying taxes, and even ease for offloading bad loans. And yet, he rued, “Ba k i t walang [Why is there no] ease in providing better wages, access to health care and education, and acquiring justice, and providing affordable food.” He expressed hope the Senate “can and shall be the Senate that President Quezon” had dreamt of, a Senate that serves the people, the way that people themselves want to be served. Romualdez reiterated his commitment to the approval of all priority measures identified by President Marcos Jr. and the LegislativeExecutive Development Advisory Council ( Ledac). “We, at the House of Representatives, stand united with the President in his desire to advance these legislative initiatives that will shape the nation’s path forward. This is a time for unity, and we fully support the President,” he said. Priority bills include the AntiAgricultural Economic Sabotage Act, Philippine Self- reliant Defense Posture Program Act, Philippine Maritime Zones Act, amendments to the Right- of- Way Act, amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, Create More Act, VAT on Digital Transactions, and capital market reforms. The Ledac has also added the Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act and five other significant measures to the top priority list. “Today, I emphasize our commitment to pass the remaining priority bills before the end of the Third Regular Session. We are ready and equally determined to ensure that these critical measures are enacted to support our nation’s progress and development,” he said. “As we did during the First and Second Regular Sessions, we will pour all our strength and time into passing the laws that the country needs,” he told his colleagues.