THE House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading 12 of over 40 measures which the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) identified as priorities. In a statement on Sunday, House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos said the approval of the priority bills crowned the House’s first regular session, wherein 7,030 bills and 645 resolutions were filed, 86 measures were approved, and 584 measures were processed in only 22 session days. “Under the leadership of Speaker Bojie Dy, we wanted the first months of the 20th Congress to send a clear signal that the House is serious about delivering on the Ledac. This signifies the hard work and unity of House members in passing these vital pieces of legislation,” Marcos said. Approved were: The Electric Power Industry Reform Act amendments to strengthen the Energy Regulatory Commission’s powers of oversight and of consumer protection; the waste-to-energy bill; the National Center for Geriatric Health; the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education Act amendments; the proposed Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) Act; the National Building Code amendments; the proposed Blue Economy Act; the National Reintegration Bill; the Teachers Professionalization Act amendments; the estate tax amnesty period extension; the Department of Water Resources bill and the Bank Deposits Secrecy Law amendments. Five other priority measures were at the House committee level. Already approved by the main House committees concerned, the bills need to pass through the House Committee on Appropriations or the House Committee on Ways and Means to determine if the measures have funding support. The five measures are a bill on the modernization of the Bureau of Immigration, the proposed National Land Use Act, a measure creating the Independent People’s Commission, the Presidential Merit Scholarship Program, and the amendments to the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. “These are big structural reforms, from land use to immigration to scholarships, and we want to make sure that when they reach the plenary, their funding and fiscal implications are fully worked out,” Marcos said. He said priority measures were under technical working group (TWG) or committee deliberation. These 15 measures are the second waste-to-energy bill on the broader regulatory framework; Universal Health Care Act amendments; the proposed excise tax on single-use plastics; Rice Tariffication Law amendments; Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act amendments; the Classroom-Building Acceleration Program; the Philippine Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Act; Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) Act amendments; a measure to strengthen the Bases Conversion and Development Authority; disaster risk financing insurance; amendments to the Magna Carta for micro, small and medium enterprises; Fisheries Code amendments; the Right to Information bill; Amendments to the Local Government Code on the special education fund and the reprogramming of the Seal of Good Local Governance. Marcos said the remaining 17 Ledac measures have been docketed for committee deliberation. They are: Coconut Farmers and Industry Tax Fund Act amendments; the general tax amnesty bill; the proposed law on online gambling; the master plan for infrastructure and national development; the Progressive Budgeting for Better and Modernized Governance Act; a measure to disqualify officials’ relatives up to the fourth degree from certain government contracts; the Cybersecurity Act; the Digital Payments Act; the bill on fair use of social media; Artificial intelligence and internet technology in elections; the Magna Carta for Barangay; Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Law amendments; Biofuels Act amendments; the proposal requiring civil servants to waive bank secrecy; Anti-Money Laundering Act amendments; the Citizen Access and Disclosure of Expenditures for National Accountability Act; An anti-political dynasty measure and the Party-list System Reform Act.