IiI

to
rcns,
finish include proposed amendment!
to the Human Security Act.
Eyes passage of pro-People oth houses of C6ngress re- days before the 1?th Congress formal$
sume their sessions today adjourns sessions on June 7.
"Unless some important bill es'
capes me, what I latow is that one 01

annrnve qpveral
several Senate
priority measures in nine daYs in ra hid
bid fn
to approve SenatE President Vicente C. c. Sotto
pro-people measures iq nine III said thq priority measures they want
1,.-r,_
the ilnoortant bills tllat we have
r,o affiove is ure anti-terrorism ]4

sl l{cE
ETITI
SPAPENJ

wateq, air, transportation, and power,"

Congress resumes... <1 the Senate leader stressed.
Sotto also expressed hope tlnt the
act," Sotto said. Commoriwealth Act No. 146 in order to Mealical scholarship Act, \trhich he au-
Sotto is referring to Senate Bill No.
address the confusion in the definition thored, would be given equal priority in,
2204, the Anti{errorism Act of 2019, ofa public utility and public services. the last three weekS before the Senate
which seeks to amend Republic Act Sotto said passage of the measure adjourns. I

No. 93?2, the Human Security Act, by

into lawwouldproi'ide Filipino cqnsum-
redefiningthe acts ofterrorism that are ers more choices, better and lower
punishable by law. prices on utility services. The bill is cur-
It was Senator Panlilo M. Lacson, rently pendirig on second reading.
chair ofthe Senate Committee on Pub- "You have seen the problems that
lic Order anal Dangerous Drugs, who we have encountered not only with
sponsored the bill, telcos (telecommunication), with the
The Senate will also try to {inish airlines, most especiallywater. r\llthese
deliberations on the bill amending the fall under the category of the Public
Public Services Act, Senate Bill No. Services Act," Sotto said.
1754. "The amendments to the Public Ser-
The bill primarily seeks to amend vices Act would address the issues on
1
The measure is cunently pending
in the Senate committee on heall.h and
demography, chaired bj Sen. Joseph
Victor "JY' Ejercito.
The bill seeks to address both issues
of scarcity and misdistribu tion of physi-
cians ili the country througb the grant-
ing of scholarships to dese rving medical
students provided that they would serve
the country frJtfrve years.
"Napaka-kAunti ng doKor sa Pilipi.
nas na nagpupunta sa mga barrio.

\ 4e\outtte Ng+tBt/ (L) nle1r ,a(q€ pL8 .. *>

)
 Arg d,hiFn, mahal (We only have few
doctors in the country that would eo to
far-flung villages)," Sotto noted.
, "Yan ang isa sa rnga dahilan, so
if bng pagdudoktor sa Pilipinas ay
gagawin nating libre, both private and
public medical schools, dadami ang
dukbor (that is one of the reasons, that,s
why if we offer schola$hips. bothin pri-
vate and public medical schools, we will
have more doctors)," Sotto said.
Other priority measures the Senate
is expected to taclde include the Budget
Reform Act, Rightsizing the National
Government Act, amendments to the
Salary Standardization Law (SSL), the
Reformation of Children in Conflictwith
the Law, which are all pending second
reading.
Also pending on second reading is
the measure seekhg to grant president
Rodrigo Duterte emergency powers to
address the country's transportation
woes, such as the proposed National
tansport Act and the Tbafrc and Con-
gestion Crisis Act.
Other priority measures of the Sen-
ate include the proposed .Mindanao
Railways Authority, the Unifred Uniform
Personnel Retirement Benefits and
Pension Reform Act, and the Value for
Money Procurement Act.
Pro-people bills
The House leadership committed
yesterday to make the remaining nine-
session days count by passing more
pm-people bills.
Ilouse Majority Leader and re^
elected Capiz Rep. l.redenit Castro said
all pending measures will all be treated
as "a prioritJa"
"As may be warranted by the pres-
ence of a quorum, all pending bills for
approval, either local or of dational
significance is a priority" he said in an
lnterylew.
After more than three-months of
respite to pave.way for the midterm
po[s, the 17th Congress buckles down
to work anew. and will adjourn sine die
on June 5-
"Sb are committed to approve more
pending measures for as long we can
muster a quorum,,' Castro said.
At le€st nine measures are set to be
appmved on third and 6lal reading by
the Lower Cbamber
These are Eouse Bill (HB).8909,
"An Act Strengtening Drug preven-
tion And Contr.ol. Amending For The
Purpose Repubfic Act No. 916b. The
"Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs
Act Of2002"; HB 9025, ,,An Act Creat-
ing The Overseas Filipinri Workers
(OFW) Sovereign FUnd,,; HB 9061.
"An Act Encouraging Corporate Social
Responsibility, Providing Incehtives
Thereof"; House Resolution 1i5b,
"R4solution Expressing The Sense Of
The House Of Representatives On The
Need To Convene The National Secu-
rity Council In Order ThatANational
P_olicy On The West Philippinp .gpa
May Be Formulared And Defind$,,;.
. j. .
i gtress.
HB 905t. "An Act Reorganizing The
Cooperative Development Authority";
HB 9023, ".An Act Strengthening The
Polltechnic University qf The philip-
pines By Declaring ItAs The National
Polytechnic University , And Appro-
priating Fitnds Therefor,'; HB 9042,
'An Act Establishing The Scope And
Procedure For Philippine Ship Regis-
try, Recognition And Enforcement Of
Maritime Claims, And Limitati,on Of
Liability'r ;.HB 8960, 'An Act pro;iding
ForA Single Classification Society Or
A Consortium Of Single Classifrcation
Societies For Certain Vessels,,; and
HB 6138, "An Act Granting Tt:ivel Tax
Exemption To Dependents Of Mar-
ried Or Solo Parent Overseas Fil'iiiino
Workers."
The House of Representatives is
awaiting the Senate s action on eigh{
measures, including the Securitv of
Tenue Act; tabaho Bill or fRAIN 2:
mining, alcohol and tobacco taxes; and ,
revision of the Constitution.
Atso included in thd list of mea-
sures already approved. bv the Lower
Chamber and transmitted to Senate
for action are HB No. 8850. q measure
amending The Juvenile Just"ice And
Welfa.re Act Of 2005 ': HB No. 8837. an
act "Creating The National Commission
OfSenior Citizens, and EB No.8961,,,An '
ActMandatingThe Institutionalization,
Development, ltaining, Organization
And Administration Of Basic Reserve
Officers Ttaining Corps (ROTC) In i.
Grades 11 And 12 In public And private
Educational Institutions.
Lelte first dishict Rep. ttdda Marie
Kiltilsfuedt Romualdez appealed anew
to the Senate to pass the bill creating
the Department of Disaster Resilience
(DD&.
"I hope that our good senators will
include the approval of the proposed
Department of Disaster Resilience in
their agenda," she said.
House Assistant Majority Leader
Bernadette Herrera-Dy also urged lhe
Senate to act on the House-approved
bius.
"If the Senate is able to approve
some oI those bills, the House would
swiftly act on them so they can bb sent
to Malacanang at the soonest,,, she
said.
House Assistant Majority Leader
Michael Romero has urged president
to sign into law the panl"awid pamilyang
Pilipino Program and Magna Carta for
the Poor bills.
"Working with ow colleagues in the
House and the Senate, we placed our
mark in these three significant pieces
of legislation, especially the two anti-
poverty measures wherein we pushed
for systems, processes, standards, and
funding meani to make government
implement its social programs better
than ever before," he iaitl \l
Lawmakers.will convene on July
22, 2019, for the start of the tSth Con-
+lpAputle frw.al
(qt