Legarda lauds House for passage of vital bills

Senator Loren Legardavowed yesterday to push for the speedy passage of bills that had already been passed by the House of Representativesbut whose counterpart measures are still pending before the Senate.

At the same time, Legarda lauded the law-making efforts of the lower chamber, which approved 52 bills on third reading and six bills on second reading in the first regular session of the 14th Congress.

Out of the 52, seven have Senate counterparts that Legarda filed. These are:

• House Bill 375 or the Billion Trees Act
• HB 3293 - Strengthening the Bureau of Food and Drugs Act 
• HB 4114 - Further Amending the Provincial Water Utilities Act
• HB 4253 - Creating the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos
• HB 3956 - Career Executive System Act
• HB 4193 - Renewable Energy Act
• HB 1387 - Creating the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office in every province, city and municipality

For the proposed House measures approved on second reading, four out of six were also filed by Legarda in the Senate, as follows:

HB 3655 or the Political Party Development Act; HB 10, Requiring Certification of DSWD to declare a "Child Legally Available for Adoption" as a prerequisite for adoption proceeding; HB 4300 or the Department of Information and Communication Communications Technology Act; and HB 4349, entitled Barangay Livelihood and Skills Training Act.

Legarda's counterpart bill for HB 4349 was already passed on third reading in the Senate.

The founder and chair of environmental group Luntiang Pilipinas, Legarda said she will work for the immediate enactment of Senate Bill No. 224, the counterpart of HB 375. SB 224 and HB 375, if passed into law, will mandate the planting of one billion trees all over the Philippines to address the depletion of the country's forest cover.

Luntian, which Legarda founded in 1998, has mobilized individual, corporate, non-governmental, academic and government volunteers to plant trees along roadways and in mini forest parks.

Thus far, Luntian has planted over two million trees and is providing tree saplingsand seedlings to those who want to plant trees from its national nursery.

"I will also push for the swift passage of SB 920 which seeks to create a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) that shall absorb the Communications functions of the Department of Transportation and Communications," she said.

Legarda said the bill will address the distinct needs of the communications and transportation sector.

"As there would be a focused agency on information and communications technology (ICT), the country will be able to keep up with the surging global phenomenon in ICT development, thereby making the Philippines globally competitive," she said.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, Legarda said she will prioritize SB 2323 to create the Persons with Disabilities Affairs Office in every province, city and municipality.

"Just like the swift enactment of the bill on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which had been my pet bill, I will continue working side by side with the House of Representatives to pass laws that will spur economic growth and more importantly, help alleviate poverty," she said.