TARGET ng pamahalaan na mapababa ang presyo ng bigas sa halagang P30 kada kilo sa taong 2024.
Ang “revolutionary rice subsidy program” ay popondohan ng pamahalaan sa pamamagitan ng national budget para sa susunod na taon. “This will be funded in next year’s budget.With this new program, we seek to drive down the price of the quality of rice by almost half for 28 million Filipinos who are under challenging situations,” sabi ni House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
Kung maipatutupad ang programang ito, maaari nang makabili ng bigas ang mamamayan ng hindi lalampas ng P30 kada kilo.
Hindi na aniya malulugi ang mga magsasaka sa gagawing hakbang na ito ng pamahalaan dahil gagamitin ng gobyerno ang pondo upang i-subsidize ang pagbili ng bigas direkta mula sa mga palayan. ”Ang rice subsidy program na ito ay ipapatupad natin sa lahat ng distrito sa buong bansa, sa siyudad, sa kanayunan,mula Aparri hanggang Jolo,” sabi ni Romualdez.
Binigyan diin ni Romualdez na ang General Appropriations Act (GAA) o 2024 National Budget na nalagdaan ni Marcos at tuluyan nang naisabatas ngayong Disyembre ay gagamitin sa apat na mahahalagang bagay.
“The House of Representatives considers it a mission to utilize the National Budget next year to address four major concerns: fighting inflation, keeping the price of rice and other basic food items at affordable levels, providing more jobs and livelihood, and expansion of social services.”
Samantala, nakapaghain na ng 9,763 House Bills,1,576 resolutions at isang petition o kabuuang 11,340 legislative measures kabilang ang naipasang 17 priority bills sa taong 2023 sa 19th Congress.
“Ilang mahahalagang House Bills na naisabatas ngayong taon ay ang “The Debt Condonation of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries”, ”Establishing the Maharlika Investment Fund”, ”Extending the Period of Availment of Estate Tax Amnesty”, ”Establishing Specialty Centers in DOH Hospitals in Every Region”, ”Institutionalizing the One Town, One Product Program”, at “Protection and Welfare of Caregivers”. ”The enrolled bill on the ‘Ease of Paying Taxes’ transmitted to the Office of the President last December 6, and hopefully will be enacted into law soon,” dagdag pa ni Romualdez.
Sa ikalawang SONA ni Pangulong Marcos ng Hulyo 2023, binanggit nito ang 17 Priority Bills ng kanyang administrasyon.”These are needed to sustain our economic recovery and improve the living conditions of many of our countrymen. It is with great pride and honor to report to this great chamber that we all passed all 17 of these SONA priority measures,seven months ahead of schedule before the President’s next State of the Nation Address schedule in July 2024,”sabi ni Romualdez.
Kabilang sa 17 SONA bills, ang “Automatic Income Classification of Local Government Units (LGUs) Act,”
“The Ease of Paying Taxes bill” na inaasahang mag eengganyo sa mga banyagang mamuhunan sa bansa at magpalago ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas, ay pipirmahan pa lang ng Pangulo upang maisabatas.
Ang naaprubahan naman sa 3rd and Final reading bago ipasa ang bola sa Senado ay ang “Amendments to the Fisheries Code”, “The Excise Tax on Single-use plastics”, “The Value-Added Tax on Digital Transactions”, “The Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act”, “The Philippine Immigration Act”, “Rationalization of Mining Fiscal Regime”, “Military and Uniformed Personnel Pension Reform Act”, “The Proposed Motor Vehicle User’s Charge/Road User’s Tax”, “The Blue Economy Act”, at “Amendments to the Anti-Agriculture Smuggling Law”.
Inaprubahan din ng chamber sa third and final reading ang bills o panukalang batas na may kinalaman sa “new government procurement and auditing laws” upang maging angkop sa panahon at “revisions to the country’s cooperative code” upang matugunan naman ang pangangailangan ng sektor ng agrikultura.
Samantala, niratipikahan na ng Kamara ang mga panukalang batas sa pagtatatag ng Department of Water Resources and Water Regulatory Commission, ang panukalang “ Tatak Pinoy (Proudly Filipino) Act” .
“The No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act” which will prohibit the imposition of any policy that will prevent students enrolled in public and private schools from taking examinations or any form of educational assessment for unpaid tuition or similar obligations.The measure granting benefits to Filipino octogenarian, nonagenarian, and additional benefits to Filipino centenarians, it is our way of honoring our elderlies who spent their younger and youthful years for the service of the country.This is also in recognition for their long and healthy life,” dagdag ni Romualdez.
“(Also ratified is) ‘The Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers’ as essential workers and grants them certain rights as maritime workers to ensure they are treated fairly and improve deterrence on the conditions of their employment.Proudly Filipino acts which mandates the formulation and implementation of the Tatak Pinoy Strategy and empowering our local enterprises to produce globally competitive products and revitalizing the salt industry in the Philippines which aims for salt self sufficiency and revitalize the salt industry by providing support services in order to attain increased income for salt farmers, producers, and investors,”dagdag pa ni Romualdez. MA. LUISA MACABUHAY-GARCIA