Senator Francis Escudero on Thursday touted the recorded “zero backlogs” of his committee in the past two years. 

Escudero said the Senate Committee on the Higher, Vocational and Technical Education has has tackled a total of 224 bills and resolutions with zero backlogs, as of 6 March, since the 19th Congress has opened. 

“I am proud to share with our countrymen that their Senate Committee on Higher, Vocational and Technical Education has been working very hard to tackle every bill and resolution that was brought before us,” he said. 

Escudero said his panel made sure that it will leave no pending proposed measures, by expiditing actions on the various bills that were referred to them. 

He then reaffirmed the panel’s commitment to “pass legislation that would further improve education and uplift the country's socio-economic condition” of Filipinos.

Of the 224 legislative measures, the Senate panel further consolidated and harmonized similar bills and shepherded the enactment of 12 laws by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., including the establishment of more medical schools in the country's State Universities and Colleges or SUCs in Luzon and Visayas.

Escudero said the panel’s “No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act,”—which penalizes the imposition policies that prohibit students of post-secondary and Higher Education from taking their midterm or final examination—is expected to be signed into law by the President soon.

He added the rest of the bills are in various stages of the legislative process, including the proposed establishment of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the Southern Luzon State University-Catanauan Campus, which is already at the bicameral conference committee level.

Escudero expressed his appreciation to the other panel members “for their continuous support and unwavering dedication to advancing critical legislations” for the higher education sector.

“Their collaborative efforts have been instrumental in the timely deliberation of these bills," he said. 

Among the committee member are Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joseph Victor Ejercito, Vice-Chairpersons; with Senators Nancy Binay, Alan Peter Cayetano, Ronald dela Rosa, Raffy Tulfo, Grace Poe, Ramon Revilla, Jr., Cynthia Villar, Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano, Jinggoy Estrada, Mark Villar, and Risa Hontiveros as members.

While the ex-officio members include Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, Majority Floor Leader Joel Villanueva, and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III.