LIST: 20 measures prioritized for passage by December 2023

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and officials from the legislative branches have agreed to pass 20 legislative measures by December 2023. 

This was agreed upon during the 2nd Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) presided by Marcos on Wednesday.  

According to a release by the Presidential Communications Office, the measures approved for passage by December are the following:

• Amendments of the BOT Law/PPP bill
• National Disease Prevention Management Authority
• Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law
• Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team (Heart) Act, formerly Medical Reserve Corps
• Virology Institute of the Philippines
• Mandatory ROTC and NSTP
• Revitalizing the Salt Industry
• Valuation Reform
• E-Government/E-Governance
• Ease of Paying Taxes
• National Government Rightsizing Program
• Unified System of Separation/Retirement and Pension of MUPs
• LGU Income Classification
• Waste-to-Energy bill
• New Philippine Passport Act
• Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers
• National Employment Action Plan
• Amendments to the Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act
• Bank Deposit Secrecy
• Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) bills

Eighteen out of the 20 bills on the list were part of the priority legislative measures in the first LEDAC meeting in October 2022. The two new inclusions are the Bank Deposit Secrecy bill and the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA) bills.

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) said the 20 bills are crucial to improving the country's economic standpoint and business climate for investors. 

“The 20 new priority bills are critical to achieving the goals outlined in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 and the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda of the Marcos Administration,” said NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan.

NEDA said that some of the measures are focused on improving regulations to promote further investments, such as the Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the Ease of Paying Taxes Bill, and the Internet Transactions Act/E-Commerce Law. 

The other priority measures aim to improve overall healthcare, such as the National Disease Prevention Authority Bill, the Medical Reserve Corps Bill, and the Virology Institute of the Philippines Bill.

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 7640, LEDAC serves as a consultative and advisory body to the president on certain programs and policies essential to the realization of the goals of the national economy. 

. — Cristina Chi