Members of the House Representatives have pushed through the legislative mill 38 bills of national importance, including the proposed 2023 budget.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said that the House also turned in two bicameral reports in just 23 session days, ahead of its break from 1 October to 6 November 2022.
According to the Leyte solon, the House had 5,696 bills filed and 21 approved resolutions, with 37 measures being passed on third and final reading. He described the House output as an accomplishment for the 19th Congress.
Not including the budget bill, the 37 national bills passed on third reading represented a 106-percent increase over the 18 measures approved by the 18th Congress and 517 percent higher compared to the six approved by the 17th Congress for the same period.
Before adjournment, the House approved on second and third reading the proposed P5.268-trillion "Agenda for Prosperity" 2023 national budget — the most important legislative proposal that Congress tackles every year — pursuant to President Ferdinand Marcos' certification of its urgency.
House Bill 4488, or the 2023 General Appropriations Bill, got the nod of 289 lawmakers, while the three members of the progressive Makabayan bloc in Congress voted against the measure.
"For two months since the start of the 19th Congress, we rolled up our sleeves and worked hand in hand to ensure the collective and responsive action upon all pending bills and resolutions, including priority bills included in the legislative agenda of our president, Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.," the Speaker said.
He then expressed optimism that the senators would move swiftly to pass the crucial pieces of legislation so that both Houses could ratify the budget measure in time for the President to sign it before the end of the fiscal year.
The lower chamber approved two bicameral conference committee reports on Wednesday, including one on the proposed Subscriber Identity Module Card Registration Act and another on the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls in December 2022, that will soon be transmitted to Malacañang for Marcos' signature.
The House wrapped up its plenary budget deliberations in just seven days.
