More than 2 years into President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr’s 6-year term, his congressional allies are racing against time to deliver his growing wish list of priority bills.

Emerging from the June 28, 2024, Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council Meeting, the President and congressional leaders came up with 10 top priority bills set for passage before the end of the 19th Congress next year.

Of the 10, the newest would be the Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act. The rest are long standing proposals including:

1. The Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) Act,
2. The bill creating the Department of Water Resources
3. Amendments to the Right-of-Way Act
4. The Excise Tax on Single-Use Plastics
5. Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime
6. Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA),
7. Reforms to Philippine Capital Markets
8. Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, and
9. Amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law

Senate President Francis Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez see these proposals as an added come-on to foreign investors as moves to amend the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution remain stalled.

Escudero’s proposal is to lengthen long-term leases on land to 99 years from the current 50, which is renewable by another 25, as there is no legal impediment. This, he said, will stabilize long term leases with the grant of a certificate of leasehold while allowing leaseholders to collateralize the land.

Such long-term leases are being done in places such as Singapore, Europe, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, he said.

“Dahil sa Leasehold, dahil sa konsepto at karapatan ng Leasehold na may papel kang pinanghahawakan galing mismo ng gobyerno at hindi simpleng Contract of Lease lamang sa pagitan mo at ng pribadong lessor mo o nagpaupa sa’yo,” Escudero said in an exclusive sitdown with ABS-CBN News.

Romualdez, who is the President’s cousin, has publicly supported Escudero’s proposal. Escudero took over the leadership of the Senate last May, replacing Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, following months of disagreement with the House over charter change.

“I’ll join Senate President Francis Escudero sa initiative niya dito sa Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Law para ito ay isang hakbang para ma-attract natin ang foreign investors. Hindi sila pwede bumili pero mahaba naman ‘yung long term lease contract sa lupa. So hindi ito binebenta sa foreigners. Sa foreign investors, long term lease contract aabot ng 50 years , aabot ng 99 years. Effectively may long term plan ang mga investors na mae-encourage dito at wala namang binebenta dito na sarili nating lupa sa mga dayuhan,” he said in a separate one-on-one interview with ABS-CBN News.

Eight other bills are already in advanced stages of legislation and nearing the finish line. These 8 pieces of legislation will also be prioritized.

1. The Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act,
2. Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act,
3. Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act,
4. Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act,
5. Philippine Maritime Zones Act,
6. Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act,
7. VAT on Digital Services and
8. The new Government Auditing Code.

Ten other bills have been marked as Second Priority. These are:

1. the Blue Economy Act,
2. Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act,
3. Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act,
4. Open Access in Data Transmission Act,
5. Waste-to-Energy Bill,
6. Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC),
7. Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel,
8. E-Government Act / E-Governance Act,
9. Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law, and
10. The Philippine Immigration Act.

Congress’ list of unfinished priorities however goes on with 19 other bills. These are the following:

1. Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers,
2. Comprehensive Infrastructure Development Master Plan,
3. National Disease Prevention Management Authority,
4. Free Legal Assistance for Police and Soldiers,
5. Eastern Visayas Development Authority,
6. Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act,
7. National Land Use Act,
8. Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers,
9. Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE),
10. Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone,
11. Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry,
12. Amendments to the Cooperative Code,
13. Medical Reserve Corps / Health Emergency Auxiliary Reinforcement Team (HEART),
14. Virology Institute of the Philippines,
15. National Government Rightsizing Program,
16. Amendments to the Bank Deposits Secrecy Law,
17. Budget Modernization Bill,
18. National Defense Act, and
19. Amendments to the Fisheries Code.

Outside the LEDAC, Congress has other priorities including its annual deliverable that takes up most of its time – the National Budget.

“Within the week ng presentation ng State of the Nation Address ay tradisyon po na ilalatag o isu-submit ng ating Pangulo through the Department of Budget and Management  Secretary ‘yung sinasabing NEP or National Expenditure Program  for the ensuing year 2025. Aabangan natin ‘yan. ‘Yan ang magiging panukalang budget  for 2025, ‘yun ang pinakamalaki at pinakamahalaga kasi lahat po ng programa, lahat ng proyekto at initiatives  ng ating presidente ng administrasyon – ni President BBM – ay ilalatag,” Romualdez added.

Separately, Congressional leaders have also agreed to prioritize in their schedule the local bills of congressmen which are specific and parochial to their constituencies so they have something concrete to show to voters during election time.

“Iyung mga parochial concerns ng kada kongresista  so sinabi naman natin kay Senate President Chiz kung  pwede tignan niyo as a priority din kasi wala naman itong kaso. In other words di na siguro mahirapan kayo i-debate ito sa Senado kasi parochial ito, kada distrito may mga concerns. So we will prioritize each congressman, anong priority 1-2 legislations nagkasunduan,” Romualdez said.

“Matutuwa lahat ng mga congressman lalo na di ba may filing ngayon ano ipapakita ng ating mga congressman sa kanilang distrito. At least masasabi nila naipasa na nila ito, may isang panukalang batas na  malaking benepisyo sa distrito. Ito ang kanilang ipagmamalaki kaya on that score ‘yung sa local legislation ‘yan, isang priority din  basta tapusin nila lahat ng mga priority local legislations ng mga congressmen. Malaking bagay po din ‘yun.”

Escudero notes many Senators now were also congressmen so they are cognizant of the needs of their colleagues in the Lower House. Aside from Escudero, other former congressmen who are now members of the Upper Chamber are Senators Pia and Alan Peter Cayetano, JV Ejercito, Win Gatchalian, Cynthia and Mark Villar, Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, Risa Hontiveros, Loren Legarda, Imee Marcos, and Miguel Zubiri.

“Hindi ito simpleng pamumulitika. Ito’y pagtanggap sa isang realidad. Mas alam nila ang dapat gawin at kailangang gawin sa kani-kanilang lugar. At hindi para sa isang Senador na nationwide ang pagtingin at pagtanaw sa mga bagay-bagay na husgahan ito kung tama nga ba ito o mali, maliban na lamang kung may national application o effect ito,” the Senate President said.

De La Salle University Political Science Professor Julio Teehankee however flags the bias in favor of economic measures, while much needed social and political reform measures take a back seat.

“I give this administration a high mark in terms of introducing economic, infrastructure, and even foreign investment bills. But, in terms of social, and even political reform legislation, I think I will have to give them a failing mark because in the priority bills, I only see amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law and the E-Governance Act. ” Teehankee told ABS-CBN News.

“These are only two– one representing social legislation and the other one, governance reform. There’s no mention of other important legislation like, for example, the controversial Divorce Bill and even the SOGIE Bill, which is important to significant sector of our society.” Teehankee added.

He noted that in the past 2 SONAs, the President made no mention of amending the Omnibus Election Code.

“We are still operating under an election code of the 1980s and we are already in the 21st Century. The other one, which is my favorite actually, passing the Political Party Development– modernizing the way we do politics,” he said.

COPING WITH THE HEAVY WORKLOAD

To cope with the growing workload, Escudero said the Senate will hold additional legislative sessions every week on Thursdays to boost the number of working session days that  are usually affected by the rainy season as well as breaks for the upcoming midterm elections.

“Magtatalaga kami ng dagdag na araw, Huwebes, para talakayin ito, aprubahan ito hanggang kakayanin namin dahil ‘yong nalalabing panahon na lang namin bago magtapos ang Kongresong ito ay humigit kumulang 70 araw na lamang. 70 session days absent any typhoons, calamities that might cause us to declare suspension of session or work,” he said.

“Humigit kumulang siyamnapu at tatlo ang madadagdag namin– kabuuan ng magiging Session namin o dagdag ng mahigit dalawampung sesyon. Malaking bagay na ‘yon na makakagalaw at makakagawa ng maraming mahahalagang panukalang batas na maipapasa ang Senado.”

In 2025, the Senate will have about 15 session days before the election and 12 session days after the voting to wipe clean their to-do list. Otherwise, all pending bills will have to be refiled and start from scratch in the 20th Congress next July.

Teehankee however points out that it is the election that could end up taking up most of the attention of lawmakers since they are elected officials.

“Of course, that’s also a big factor that would affect whether the current Congress, the 19th Congress, would be able to complete or at least accomplish most of the legislation identified in the priority bills of the administration.  Kasi eleksyon na so magkakaroon ng distraction kasi magkakaroon ‘yan ng realignment of courses. Of course, we know that the midterm is a preview to the bigger game in 2028, the next cycle of Presidential Elections,” he said.

Escudero thinks otherwise, explaining that massive political realignments usually happen closer to the presidential election, not the midterms.

“Depende ‘yan sa mga magiging interesado at kakandidato sa darating na 2028 pero napakaaga pa para sabihing lamang to, lamang ‘yan,” he said.

“Kaya tinawag ‘yang midterm election, kalahati ‘yan ng termino ng presidente at madalas pinakamakapangyarihan ang nakaupong pangulo sa unang 3 taon at pahupa ‘yan habang dumadaloy ang panahon, matapos ang midterm, hanggang matapos ang termino.”

HOW THE LEGISLATIVE MILL GRINDS

Over 24 months into the Marcos Jr administration, the President’s congressional allies have only successfully shepherded 17 priorities into full enactment.

These are:

1. SIM Card Registration Act
2. Postponement of Barangay/SK Elections,
3. Strengthening Professionalism in the AFP,
4. New Agrarian Emancipation Act,
5. Maharlika Investment Fund,
6. Regional Specialty Hospitals,
7. Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act,
8. Automatic Income Classification of LGUs,
9. Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines,
10. Internet Transactions Act,
11. Ease of Paying Taxes Act,
12. Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) Act,
13. New Philippine Passport Act,
14. Philippine Salt Industry Development Act,
15. Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS
16. The Negros Island Region, and
17. the Real Property Valuation and Assessment Reform Act

Historically, most bills breeze through the House before it is passed or stalled in the Senate.

“Parati naman perfect ‘yung record natin eh. Parati naman nating tinatapos time on target. Kundi on time, karamihang beses advanced pa kUng minsan di pa nakalatag eh, tapos na kami po,” Romualdez said.

The Senate however refuses to sacrifice quality and transparency, for speed. Escudero noted the sole purpose of having a bicameral Congress is to ensure that proposed legislation is examined thoroughly.

“Basta naman wala kang tinatago, bukas ka sa sagutan ng mga katanungan at hindi nasa mga saradong kwarto, ang mga usapan at usaping ‘yan ay makakatiyak kayo na wala namang gagawing kabulastugan ang sinumang opisyal o pribadong indibidwal,” Escudero said.

Romualdez however underscored the need to decide on proposals, instead of leaving them hanging.

“Kailangan din kumuha tayo ng resolusyon na mayroon din tayong matatapos na legislation na makakabuti sa taumbayan at di lang dahil sa interes natin  o sa ayaw niyo , gusto natin. Di po dapat ‘yun ang prayoridad,” he said.

Teehankee believes the new Senate chief may already have what it takes to get the job done. “Senator Chiz is more political in the sense na he knows how to play ball, whether he’s with the administration  or opposition and now as Senate president, he has made this mark,” he said.

But beyond the halls of Congress, Teehankee said getting the President’s wish list done will be a test of his political leadership over his lieutenants in Congress.

“Of course, ang unang unang titignan mo d’yan ‘yung presidential leadership at dahil ito ay priority bill ng administrasyon, so ang dapat na talagang nagbibigay ng directions  sa mga kaalyado sa politika ay ang Pangulo. At ang pangalawang titignan mo d’yan ay mga so-called political lieutenants. ‘Yung mga timon ng Presidente sa dalawang chambers ng Congress. Of course, ang reliable na kanyang lieutenants sa Mababang Kapulungan ay ang kanyang pinsan na si Speaker Martin Romualdez na may supermajority na hawak ngayon. Mukhang sa Mababang Kapulungan, wala naman s’yang problema,” he said.