7 bills get final House approval

MANILA, Philippines — House lawmakers on Wednesday approved on third and final reading seven measures of national significance including one which declared every election as a non-working holiday to encourage voters to exercise their right to vote.

“With this proposed legislation, we hope to get the maximum participation of our voters in the national elections, which is one of the most important activities that they should do as Filipinos,” Speaker Martin Romualdez said.

“The right to suffrage is guaranteed by our Constitution and we want to value and protect this right by making sure that voters would no longer worry about missing work,” Romualdez said of House Bill 8187, which seeks to help voters travel to their provinces to cast their votes.

“This will also benefit our kababayans who work in Metro Manila and need to file for leaves just so they can travel back to their provinces. We want to make sure that we assist them by declaring national elections as a regular holiday so they can exercise their right to vote hassle-free,” he said.

Six other measures have also hurdled final reading, among them HBs 7728 (agricultural land bill), 8327 (PNP restructuring bill), 8456 (utilization of natural gas as energy source), 8265 (regulating cooperative banks), 8443 (Philippine ecosystem and natural capital accounting system or Pencas bill) and 8269 (internally displaced persons’ rights bill).

The PNP restructuring measure received an overwhelming 187 votes, which will pave the way for the creation of additional offices within the Philippine National Police, and appropriating funds for such purpose.

“Through these various changes, we aspire to make the PNP more responsive in dealing with its present-day challenges, including internal issues. This will ultimately redound to the benefit of Filipinos, whom the PNP seeks to protect,” Romualdez said.

The agricultural land bill aims to replace Section 24 of the decades-old Commonwealth Law, to “simplify” and expedite the otherwise longer, if not cumbersome, acquisition of public agricultural properties.

The natural gas bill seeks to establish the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry to promote natural gas as a “safe, environment-friendly, efficient, and cost-effective source of energy.”

“It’s high time that we enforce, implement, and use clean energy to mitigate the effects of climate change. We have to start now to veer away from the conventional but hazardous method of generating power, for the benefit of our future generation,” Romualdez said.

The Pencas bill, which received 215 votes, will establish a system for the collection, compilation and development of natural capital accounts in the government as a tool for development planning and programming, policy analysis and decision-making.

HB 8269 aims to protect internally displaced persons who are forced to leave their homes due to armed conflict, violence, clan wars, violations of human rights implementation of development projects, natural, human-induced and human-made hazards.

“This proposed legislation seeks to guarantee the promotion and protection of the rights of the victims of and non-combatants in armed conflict in accordance with international humanitarian law, international customary law, international human rights laws, and domestic laws,” Romualdez said.

HB 8265 provides that at least 15 cooperative organizations duly-established and registered under the Cooperative Code may register a CB with the Cooperative Development Authority, in compliance with the requirements of and required authorization from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

“This bill provides for the establishment, management, and regulation of cooperative banks under the supervision of the BSP as primary regulator, conformably with the provisions of the General Banking Law of 2000,” he said.