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SOURCE: Press and Public Affairs Bureau

CONGRESS EYES POSTPONEMENT OF BSKE, PASSAGE OF SIM CARD REGISTRATION BY OCTOBER 1
09 September 2022 02:20:41 PM


THE House of Representatives and the Senate are eyeing the passage on
third and final reading of the proposed laws seeking to postpone the
barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) and the
registration of all postpaid and prepaid mobile phone subscriber
identity module (SIM) cards by October 1,
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe said Friday.

“We initially met last night (Thursday) to discuss our common
legislative agenda. The House and Senate leaderships are eyeing the
postponement of barangay and SK elections and passage of SIM card registration bill before our adjournment this September. This is to ensure that
the entire Congress is moving forward in the same direction,” Dalipe said after their meeting with Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri, and Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva in Makati City.

“The House will also pass by October 1 the national budget for next
year,” Dalipe added, referring to the proposed 2023 P5.268-trillion
General Appropriations Bill (GAB).

Under the House proposal, it seeks the postponement of the barangay
and BSKE scheduled on December 5,
2022 to December 4, 2023.

Last Monday, the House Committee on Information and Communications
Technology approved the SIM card registration bill to lessen scams and
criminal activities.

At the same time, Dalipe said top House leaders reiterated their commitment to fully support the administration’s
legislative agenda that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
enumerated during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) by acting on
these measures "with dispatch".

“Our main priority is economic recovery, with agriculture as the key
driver for growth and employment," Dalipe said. “We will push for
the passage of more reform-oriented measures to improve good
governance and uplift the lives of Filipinos. We are here to serve the
people.”

The priority measures enumerated by President Marcos in his SONA were
the Valuation Reform Bill, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary
Taxation Act (PIFITA), E-Governance Act, Internet Transaction Act,
Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiatives to Distressed
Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) bill, Medical Reserve Corps
bill, National Disease Prevention Management Authority bill, Virology
Institute of the Philippines bill, Unified System of Separation,
Retirement and Pension bill; Department of Water Resources bill,
E-Governance Act, National Land Use Act, Mandatory Reserve Officers’
Training Corps (ROTC) and National Service Training Program, Budget
Modernization bill, National Government Rightsizing Program, National
Defense Act, Enactment of an Enabling Law for the Natural Gas
Industry, Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act,
Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, and condonation for
agrarian reform beneficiaries.

During the meeting, Dalipe said House leaders initially agreed to prioritize the
passage of the Medical Reserve Corps bill, Virology Institute of the
Philippines measure, creation of a United States-type Center for
Disease Control (CDC) medical facility, condonation for agrarian
reform beneficiaries to enable farmers to concentrate on farm
productivity, Amendments to the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, mandatory
ROTC, Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, apprenticeship bill, and
benefits for barangay health workers as part of their common
legislative agenda.

According to Dalipe, House and Senate leaders will meet again to finalize the list of
their common priority legislations while awaiting the convening of the
Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) to set the
direction and other requests of the executive branch in terms of
legislation.(END)

 
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