Belmonte sees passage of key economic bills after SONA

The House of Representatives will work on the passage of six key economic bills when session resumes after President Benigno Aquino III’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Sunday. Belmonte said economic legislations “may dominate" legislative work during the House’s second regular session, although the chamber is still awaiting priorities the President will lay down during his SONA on July 25. “The President’s SONA message will surely guide us during the coming regular session. In the meantime, the priorities set during the first Legislative-Executive Advisory Council (LEDAC) will be pursued, aside from our own priorities at the House of Representatives," Belmonte said in a statement. Among the economic bills that the House will prioritize are the Anti-Trust bill, which prohibits monopolies in businesses; the Fiscal Incentives Rationalization bill; and the Government Procurement Reform bill. Also included in the priority economic measures are the Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Development Act, the National Land Use Act and the Land Administration Reform Act. President Aquino identified these six bills as among his administration’s 23 priority legislations during the LEDAC last February. Belmonte said the House aims to pass the 2012 budget much earlier than it did last year. "We are all agreed on the merits of having to enact a national budget in time and avoid the scenario of having to resort to a re-enacted budget. We were able to do it last year and we intend to do even better this year," he said. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News