SPEAKER FAUSTINO “Bojie” G. Dy III on Tuesday said he is pushing the inclusion of eight bills in the government’s priority legislative agenda, including proposals to strengthen bases conversion for development and ban relatives of public officials from bidding for state projects.
Mr. Dy met with top officials at the presidential palace for the first Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting of the 20th Congress, where he also proposed bills on guidelines for digital campaigning in elections and modernization of the Bureau of Immigration.
“We meet today in a spirit of collaborative governance to align our legislative agenda with the administration’s Philippine Development Plan and its eight-point socioeconomic agenda,” he said in a statement.
The LEDAC is composed of congressional leaders and private sector representatives, and aims to identify priority bills for streamlined passage based on the government’s agenda.
The Speaker is pushing the prioritization of a bill granting greater market regulatory powers to the National Food Authority over the rice industry, alongside a measure to strengthen disaster risk financing and insurance for faster calamity response.
He is also backing a proposed program to reward “outstanding” school graduates from low- and middle-income families, and a magna carta for villages aimed at granting long-overdue benefits and resources to local governments.
“With the President’s leadership and the collective will of this council, we are confident that we can achieve these legislative goals,” Mr. Dy said.
Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Cielo Krisel B. Lagman said Mr. Dy also vowed to support the inclusion of a House bill seeking to establish an independent commission to investigate bogus flood control deals via law as an administration priority.
House Bill No. 4453 proposes the creation of a five-member commission to investigate corruption in flood control projects. It would be granted full access to state records and have subpoena and contempt powers for noncompliance.
“When he met with the Liberal Party bloc last week, he told us that our bill is something he supports,” Ms. Lagman said, adding that Mr. Dy would tell the President about the proposal.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. created the Independent Commission for Infrastructure through an executive order earlier this month to probe corruption in public works projects. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
