Press Release - Chiz-led Senate passes key priority measures in a short span of time

The Senate, under the leadership of Senate President Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero, has passed several priority measures of the administration that will improve the investment climate of the country, strengthen the nation's territorial and maritime claims, and improve the competitiveness of Filipinos.

The Senate was able to act on 12 key measures, all in just a little over 30 session days since Escudero was elected as the new Senate President on May 20, 2024.

"During this period we even had to deal with work stoppages due to weather disturbances, as well as national holidays. Nevertheless, we made sure that we were able to dispose of the matters before us, with the support of all our members," Escudero said.

Nine of the 12 bills are up for signing by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., three are awaiting action at the bicameral conference committee level, and one is up for approval by the House of Representatives.

All-in-all, a total of 106 bills, including those that are local in scope, were approved on third reading, 26 of which have been enacted into law since May 20.

"We acted with urgency on the priority measures of the President, which were also part of the common legislative agenda of both chambers of Congress. Again, this is more about the quality of laws rather than quantity. These are high impact laws that Malacañang and Congress agreed upon to prioritize," Escudero said.

As he noted upon his assumption as Senate President, Escudero said the Senate will apply the three-way test in prioritizing bills: Will it make the lives of the people easier? Will it help us move faster? Will it make our people's burdens lighter?

This test, according to Escudero, is the basis for deciding what to legislate and if amendments are to be entertained.

The priority bills up for signing by the President are the following:

&#149 SBN 1604 or the Academic Recovery and Accessible Learning Program (ARAL) Act addresses the learning deficiencies of learners by assigning qualified tutors;

&#149 SBN 2221 or the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers strengthens the protection and promotion of the welfare of the close to half a million seafarers on board ships globally;

&#149 SBN 2432 or