MANILA, Philippines – The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. added five new measures to the list of its top priorities for passage in Congress before the current batch of lawmakers adjourns in May 2025, but progressive measures on divorce and prohibition of gender-based discrimination remain excluded.

The development came after the President convened the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) on Tuesday, June 25, with Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in attendance.

A press release issued by Romualdez’s office said the five new pet bills are:

1. Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act
2. Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law
3. Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act
4. Reforms to the Philippine Capital Markets
5. Amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law

The said five bills are in addition to the 23 priority measures that are pending before the House or the Senate, and have yet to reach the President’s desk for his signature.

A separate press release from the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) categorized the proposed measures based on the level of prioritization.

Ten bills are of top priority, namely:

1. Reforms to Philippine Capital Markets
2. Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act
3. Amendments to the Right-of-Way Act
4. Excise Tax on Single-Use Plastics
5. Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime
6. Amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act
7. Department of Water Resources
8. Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE Act)
9. Amendments to the Foreign Investors’ Long-Term Lease Act
10. Amendments to the Rice Tariffication Law

Eight bills, meanwhile, are classified as measures already in advanced stages:

1. Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act
2. Amendments to the Government Procurement Reform Act
3. Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act
4. Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act
5. Philippine Maritime Zones Act
6. Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning (ARAL) Program Act
7. VAT on Digital Services
8. New Government Auditing Code

The following remaining 10 bills are listed as “second priority,” namely:

1. Blue Economy Act
2. Enterprise-Based Education and Training Framework Act
3. Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act
4. Open Access in Data Transmission Act
5. Waste-to-Energy Bill
6. Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
7. Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension of Military and Uniformed Personnel
8. E-Government Act / E-Governance Act
9. Amendments to the Agrarian Reform Law
10. Philippine Immigration Act

Measures that have long languished in Congress and have been repeatedly pushed by progressive groups, such as laws on divorce and prohibition of gender-based discrimination, continue to be out of the President’s list of pet bills.

The passage of the divorce bill in the House breathed new life into debates on the subject, but senators are divided on the matter, with Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada saying it’s not the new leadership’s priority.

Marcos said during his campaign in 2022 that he was open to the legalization of divorce in the Philippines.

The SOGIE equality bill, meanwhile, already hurdled the committee level in the Senate in December 2022, but the leadership won’t calendar it for deliberations in the plenary. In the House, it has reached the plenary, but is still in the period of sponsorship. – Rappler.com