Senior rookie solon Pleyto unlocks achievement

Bulacan 6th district Rep. Salvador Pleyto (Facebook)

Neophyte congressman Bulacan 6th district Rep. Salvador Pleyto Sr. recently achieved a huge milestone—having one of his bills enacted into law for the first time.

This bill turned out to be Republic Act (RA) No.11966 or “An Act Providing for the Public-Private Partnership of the Philippines”.

Also known as the PPP Code, RA No.11966 was signed into law by President Marcos, as reported by Malacañang Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Pleyto, a principal author of the measure via House Bill (HB) No.6527, said he was glad that all their legislative efforts have finally paid off.

“This is my first bill to become a law,” said the engineer-legislator, who at 81 years old is among the oldest of the first-time solons in the 19th Congress.

The PPP Code seeks to establish a stable and predictable environment for collaboration between the public and private sectors to address the gaps in the infrastructure systems.

It also intends to free up much-needed resources to enable the government to pursue other equally important projects and initiatives.

“What is also good about this amendment to the BOT (build-operate-transfer) Law is that it prohibits issuance by courts except by the SC (Supreme Court) of a TRO (temporary restraining order) and preliminary injunctions against all PPP projects,’ Pleyto explained.

This is very important because projects can no longer be stalled,” he noted.

Pleyto is a former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) undersecretary.