MAY 1, 2012 DATE

NR # 2726B
REF. NO.

Human resource development and environment protection are priorities

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. today assured that the House of Representatives will continue to give emphasis on human resource development and environment protection policies as Congress reconvenes on May 7. Even as we continue to focus on reforms for good governance and other concerns, we will never deviate from reinvigorating our national policies on human development, promoting investments and protecting the environment, Belmonte said as the nation celebrates Labor Day. The Speaker noted that the House has transmitted to the Senate some 179 bills of national scope and some 446 local measures of equal importance. Likewise, some nine national and 58 local bills are expected to be passed on final reading this month. Directly and indirectly, Congress is determined to propose more new statutes or update existing laws to promote human development, particularly for the countrys labor force, he said. Among others, the bills lined up for final approval include HB 6050 which establishes rural farm schools as alternative delivery mode of secondary education in the country and HB 6048 which provides for universal health care services to all Filipinos, amending R.A. 7875 or the National Health Insurance Act of 1995. Also awaiting final approval are HB 6022 which rationalizes the taxes on International Air Carriers operating in the Philippines, amending some provisions of the National Internal Revenue code of 1997, HB 6023 which aims to prevent and control pollution from ships, providing penalties for violations. Likewise in the pipeline are HB 6040 which provides for a three-year validity period for the license to exercise the security profession, amending R.A. 5487 or the Private Security Agency Law, and HB 6044 which aims to institute reforms in real property valuation and assessment in the Philippines, reorganizing the Bureau of Local government finance. The local bills include, among others: the upgrade and modernization of the J.R. Borja City Memorial Hospital as an extension hospital of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City; the grant of franchises to broadcast entities in Luzon; franchise for the constructionand operation of a distribution system for electric power in Nueva Ecija; and the establishment of national high schools. Furthermore, the local bills propose to establish multi-purpose fish breeding farms

MAY 1, 2012 DATE

NR # 2726B
REF. NO.

and hatcheries in Surigao del Sur and in Cagayan (Luzon), a fish port and cold storage facility in Cagayan and Pangasinan, and a fisheries research center, also in Cagayan. All these would mean benefits for the workers and their families, jobs and income for their respective areas, Belmonte noted. Among those for Senate action are: HB 3861 providing for the development of entrepreneurship skills among government employees for an innovative-inspired corps of civil serviants and a productive post-service citizenry; HB 209 strengthening adult education programs for workers and employees, amending the Labor Code of the Philippines; HB 4255 strengthening the ladderized interface between technicalvocational education and training and higher education; and HB 4225 strengthening the participation of civil society organizations in the formulation of national, regional and local development plans. (30) dpt