Congress pressured to pass landmark bills

MANILA, Philippines - Congress is under pressure to pass landmark bills and other urgent measures, including the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), before the end of the year as the Senate and the House of Representatives resume session tomorrow.

Apart from the BBL, which seeks to create a new autonomous region in Mindanao, lawmakers from both chambers need to ratify the proposed P2.606-trillion national budget for 2015 next month so it can be signed into law before the end of the year.

The House also aims to approve in plenary in the next two weeks the proposed Joint Resolution 21, which seeks to grant President Aquino emergency powers to ensure stable power supply in Luzon this summer.

Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. said the House is awaiting the document from Aquino certifying the resolution as urgent so the chamber could approve the measure by the end of the month.

The special ad hoc panel on the BBL, chaired by Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, has been conducting public hearings in Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Zamboanga, Basilan and other parts of Mindanao in the last two weeks to speed up its approval amid questions on the constitutionality of some of its key provisions.

The Aquino administration aims to enact the BBL into law by the end of the year or early next year so that it could conduct a plebiscite in affected areas in Mindanao and prepare for the elections of its officials for 2016.

The proposed 2015 General Appropriations Act is now pending in the Senate and is expected to return to the House for ratification by mid-December after the two chambers have reconciled conflicting provisions in the bicameral conference committee.

The chamber is also expected to continue plenary deliberations on the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill and the proposed Resolution of Both Houses No. 1, which seeks to boost foreign direct investments by amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution.

“If there are no more interpellators, we can proceed to amendments for the Anti-Political Dynasty Bill,” Gonzales said.

Also expected to be referred to the plenary in the coming days is the anti-trust bill or the proposed Philippine Competition Act, which seeks to penalize anti-competitiveness agreements, abuse of dominant position and anti-competitive mergers.

It also proposes the establishment of the Philippine Fair Competition Commission, the government agency that shall be primarily responsible for enforcing and carrying out the competition law.