The leadership of the House of Representatives assured early this week the passage of several economic measures, including the proposed Philippine Fair Competition Act, early next year until the 16th Congress ends on June 30, 2016.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, in an interview with reporters, said the leadership would pursue all economic measures that would help attain the country’s goal of an inclusive economic growth.
“All important economic measures, we will pass it starting next year,” vowed Belmonte, following the passage of the proposed Philippine Fair Competition Act in the Senate recently.
According to Belmonte these proposed legislative priorities, include:
- Amendment of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Charter, which was recently passed at the Committee of Bank and Financial Intermediaries, would strengthen its regulatory and supervisory powers to respond more appropriately to the changes in both global and domestic economic and financial landscape.
- Rationalization of fiscal incentives that would consolidate all existing incentive-giving laws to avoid confusion, redundancy, tax avoidance and other inefficiencies, while facilitating investments. The measure is still under deliberation of a technical working group.
- Tax Incentives Management and Transparency Act (under a committee deliberations) mandating a full disclosure policy of the tax incentives by requiring taxpayers to report availed incentives in the income-tax returns, and establishing a Tax Expenditure Account in the national budget to reflect the amount of tax incentives granted to private individuals and corporations.
- Customs Modernization and Tariff Act that would align our Tariff and Customs Code with the simplified and harmonized customs procedures and practices adopted in the Revised Kyoto Convention and other international and legal standards (under a committee deliberations).
- Rationalization of mining revenues that seeks to increase the share of the State from mining, and ensure the timely release of local government units share from mining revenues (under a committee deliberations).
- Resolution of Both Houses No. 1 that vests on Congress the power to set restrictions on foreign ownership in key economic sectors, including public utilities, property, mass media and advertising, educational institutions and development of natural resources, etc. (under plenary deliberations).
- Amendments to our Foreign Investment Act, particularly those on the Foreign Investment Negative List. The amendments include lowering paid-in capital requirements for foreign enterprises, redefining “export enterprises” to remove discrimination against foreign investors for the Board of Investments incentives, allowing foreign investment of up to 100 percent of equity for manufacturing and radio communication, rationalizing the entry of foreign companies in the construction, operations and maintenance of large public works projects, and the easing of restrictions on the practice of professions (under a committee deliberations).
- An anti-trust and competition law that would consolidate and update our laws on competition and establish a strong regulatory agency to deal with anti-competitive practices (under plenary deliberations).
- Amendments of the Build-Operate-Transfer law, the Cabotage law, and the Electric Power Industry Reform Act or Epira (under a committee deliberations).
- Passage of the Freedom of Information Act (under plenary deliberations), Bangsamoro basic law (under a committee deliberations), Sandiganbayan Act (recently approved on final reading), and Witness Protection Act and Whistleblowers’ Act (under committee deliberations).
Gonzales said the lower chamber has recently approved on final reading the House Bill (HB) 5280, or An Act Decriminalizing Premature Marriages, repealing for the purpose Article 351 of Revised Penal Code; HB 5283, or An Act to Further Strengthen the Functional and Structural Organization of the Sandiganbayan; and the House Joint Resolution (HJR) 26, increasing the daily subsistence allowance of all military officers from P90 to P150.
He said the HB 5280 seeks to amend Article 351 of the Revised Penal Code.
Article 351 reads, “Premature marriages. — Any widow who shall marry within 300 and one day from the date of the death of her husband, or before having delivered if she shall have been pregnant at the time of his death, shall be punished by arresto mayor and a fine not exceeding P500. The same penalties shall be imposed upon any woman whose marriage shall have been annulled or dissolved, if she shall marry before her delivery or before the expiration of the period of 300 and one day after the legal separation.”
Gonzales said that there’s no need for a bicameral conference committee to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the bill. The Senate approved its version of the bill earlier this year.
The majority leader also said that the HJR 11 seeks to increase the subsistence allowance of all officers, enlisted personnel, candidate soldiers, probationary second lieutenants, cadets and civilian active auxiliaries of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and all commissioned and non-commissioned personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and Philippine National Police Academy cadets from P90 to 150 per day effective July 2014.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz