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THE Senate adjourned sine die on Wednesday night highlighted by its approval of eight priority measures of the administration and the enactment of six bills into law.
In his closing remarks, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri called the First Regular Session of the 19th Congress a “success”” for the Senate, highlighting not only the quantity but also the quality of the measures that have been approved by the chamber.
The Senate produced a total of six measures enacted into law–four national and two local laws. Twenty-two bills are now also for the President's signature–seven of them national, fifteen local. Two national bills are pending at the bicameral conference committee, and six more national bills have been approved on third reading.
“A highlight among our accomplishments is our approval of eight of the priority measures of the administration,” the Senate President said.
Three of these measures have been passed into law — the SIM Registration Act, the Act Postponing the Barangay Elections, and the AFP Fixed Term Law.
Meanwhile, the measure on the Condonation of Unpaid Amortization and Interests on Loans of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries, the Regional Specialty Centers Act, the Extension of the Estate Tax Amnesty Act, and the Maharlika Investment Fund Act are presently awaiting the signature of the President.
The Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act has also been approved by the Senate on third reading, and needs only its House counterpart before it can move forward.
The Maharlika Investment Fund only secured the Senate's third reading approval at 2:32 a.m. Wednesday, after an 11-hour marathon session taken up by extensive line-by-line amendments to the bill.
Apart from these measures, the First Regular Session also saw the Senate hold exhaustive investigations into various issues of national concern, including skyrocketing prices and smuggling in the agriculture sector; the malversation of public funds; and the shutdown at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), among others.
Before adjournment, the Senate ratified the bicameral conference report on the 'One Town, One Product' (OTOP) bill, an Act institutionalizing the OTOP Philippines program.
Zubiri assured that the Senate will remain hard at work throughout the sine die adjournment.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will return to work on July 24, 2023 when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers his second State of the Nation Address at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
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