Senate outlines six priority measures for 17 th Congress

July 24, 2017

The Senate has outlined six priority measures for the 17 th Congress, with the Duterte administration’s tax reform package being the main priority. In his speech, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel said the other key measures to be pushed by the Upper House are strengthening the Anti-Terrorism Law, the National ID System, the Universal Health Care Act, the Bangsamoro Basic Law and the shift to federalism. Through the tax reform package, which the House has approved, Pimentel said “we will ease the burden of working- and middle-class Filipinos while ensuring that all government programs remain funded through the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act.” “We will ensure the safety of our people by strengthening the Anti-Terrorism Law. We will improve the delivery of basic services through the National ID system. We will provide health care to all Filipinos through the Universal Health Care Act. We will pursue a path to lasting peace in Mindanao by addressing the valid concerns of our Muslim brothers and sisters through the Bangsamoro Basic Law,” he said.. Through the shift to federalism, Pimentel said :”We will empower our regions to determine their development plans, their overall direction.” Pimentel said the Senate has 1,242 bills and 297 resolutions pending before committees. “More will come as we realize new ideas to improve our laws to better serve the public and improve the quality of life of all Filipinos. Each bill or measure must be scrutinized with the view of accepting or rejecting it based on how well they can be of service to the people. We are looking at a lot of work,” he said. But the Senate can deal with this as Pimentel said senators “have proven in the previous session just how much work we can put in when the public welfare is on the line. I am confident we can do just as well, or even better than how we did in the previous session.” Pimentel cited that a survey last week which showed the Senate enjoys a 59 percent approval rating, four percentage points higher than the survey before 2016 regular session. DMS