Speaker meets Chiz; no talks yet on economic Cha-cha

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez and newly installed Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero met at Malacañang last Monday when President Marcos signed into law the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act.

Romualdez, however, admitted in a chance interview with reporters covering the House of Representatives that he and Escudero have not discussed the economic Charter change bill that congressmen had approved before the Congress went on a break late last month.

“(Charter amendment) was not discussed specifically. But of course, that bill (Resolution of Both Houses 7 that the House had approved) remains pending in the Senate, along with their RBH 6. So we’ll get to that,” the Speaker said.

Romualdez was interviewed on the sidelines of yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremonies held at San Mateo, Rizal, where Marcos’ socialized housing projects – the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) – have been implemented.

The Speaker said he and Escudero would get in touch eventually since they have each other’s numbers, and that all of the priority bills set by Marcos had already been approved by the House, which means that the two Congress leaders will most likely see each other during bicameral conference committee hearings.

Romualdez revealed that Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino is also in close coordination with his House counterpart, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe of Zamboanga City.

“We will allow the Senate to fully organize itself or reorganize itself, and the common legislative agenda will be outlined, as well as the priority legislation,” he added.

Other lawmakers have chimed in, saying it is imperative for the Philippines to open up and lift its restrictive economic policies toward foreign investments so that the country can still catch up with neighbors whose economies have soared for the past decades or so.

“Status quo is the last thing we need. We have to wake up from our long slumber, so to speak. Don’t we need to catch up? Can we not entertain change at all? Can we not try something new?” Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong asked.

“In this era of fast global digitalization, the Philippines needs to level up by trying to compete, or at least be at par with advanced economies. We are sorely lacking in infrastructure, which is why our Asian neighbors have left us behind,” Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun pointed out.

Housing

Meanwhile, Marcos’ Build Better More (BBM) programs in the socialized housing sector have improved significantly, which now has amenities that only the moneyed class usually enjoy, according to Romualdez.

“It’s very heartwarming for me to hear that our Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) now have basketball courts, swimming pools, clubhouses and other amenities that we only see in exclusive subdivisions and condominiums for the rich,” the Speaker said.

In the same speech at yesterday’s 4PH groundbreaking ceremony, he disclosed that there are 170,000 housing units being built in Metro Manila alone and distributed among 55 locations.

This is on top of the thousands of housing units being built in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao that include the 20 ongoing projects currently in “various stages of construction and development,” according to Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jerry Acuzar.

“This is the dream of our dear President: to provide housing for all Filipinos, to give them the dignity they deserve, for them to live a peaceful life in their chosen community where they have a decent livelihood and where everybody is safe from harm,” Romualdez said.

He added that the national government remains on track with their original target of building one million housing units every year until Marcos’ six-year term ends in 2028, so as to fill the housing gap, or the 6.5 million backlog in housing units.

“What is very important here in the BBM projects is that these are all ‘in-city resettlements,’ which simply means that the housing units we build are within the city where you live and where you derive your source of livelihood, freeing you from economic displacement,” the Speaker said.

At the same time, Romualdez gave assurance that Congress – having the power of the purse – will always make sure that funds will be available to DHSUD’s projects, even if government financing institutions like Pag-IBIG had pledged P250 billion for the BBM socialized housing programs.

As of last month, Acuzar said that Pag-IBIG had already released about P761.5 million to private contractors who are now constructing the four 4PH programs in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, even as state-run banks like Land Bank and state pension funds Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System had made similar assurances.