Marcos, Congress deliver laws on seas, investments
These were the Maritime Zones bill, Archipelagic Sea Lanes bill, Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE MORE) bill and amendments to the Electric Power Industry and Reform Act (EPIRA).
Of the four, three bills were signed into law.
The Maritime Zones law provides that the Philippines exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over its internal waters, territorial sea archipelagic waters, and the airspace over it, including its seabed and subsoil as stated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas.
The Archipelagic Sea Lanes law allows the President to identify the archipelagic sea lanes and air routes that the foreign vessels and aircraft can use, the obligations and prohibitions in using the sea lanes, and penalizes the operators of water and air assets for any loss or damage suffered by the Philippines or any third party due to non-compliance with the provisions of the law
The CREATE More law aims to increase the investment capital approval threshold for the country's Investment Promotion Agencies from P1 billion to P15 billion pesos. It also seeks to exempt certain goods and services such as janitorial, security, financial consultancy, marketing, and human resources from value-added tax.
The President's pitch for the bill amending the EPIRA law to bring down electricity costs, however, did not gain steam in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Higher electricity bills were felt in March since the Energy Regulatory Commission approved a higher feed-in tariff rate.
House spokesperson Princess Abante said the President's priority legislations will be known after he delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28, but the President's cousin and presumptive Speaker, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, already vowed support for legislations that would make the P20 per kilo rice sustainable by filing the Rice Industry and Consumer Empowerment (RICE) Act.
The proposed RICE Act authorizes the state-run National Food Authority to buy palay at competitive prices, manage buffer stocks, and directly sell affordable rice to consumers during periods of price volatility.
The way forward in pushing for the President's priority legislation, however, does not get any easier halfway into his administration. For one, only five of the President's 11-strong Senate slate won in the midterm polls.
Congress will also have to deal with the looming impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, an ally turned foe of Marcos.
But for Dr. Jennifer Oreta, dean of the Ateneo School of Government, Marcos will rise and fall based on how he communicates the government's programs and makes the reforms palpable to the public, regardless of the political noise.
'Remember, the performance of the Duterte candidates during the last elections was also not very good. The breakup of the Uniteam affected both. So I don't think the Vice President's impeachment trial is a make-or-break type of situation for the administration, if it plays its cards well,' Oreta told GMA News Online in a Zoom interview.
'I would say it is the President's decisiveness and political will that the people need to see. People need to see that this government is actually bent on delivering results, whether that is in the form of legislation or in the form of impeachment [conviction] of Vice President Duterte. Hindi kasi masyadong nakikita at nararamdaman ng mga tao yung political will ng administration,' Oreta pointed out.
(As it is, people hardly see and feel the political will of the administration.)
Oreta said that such a disconnect with the public's perception was something that Marcos himself recognized when he ordered that all his appointees render a courtesy resignation, making the revamp more crucial in his last three years in office.
'It's actually the biggest shakedown in the Executive branch, and a first post-EDSA [People Power Revolution] in 1986. It was a massive shakeup, and until now, we are waiting on how this will play out. Will it actually re-energize the bureaucracy in terms of service delivery, in terms of legislation?' the Ateneo dean said.
'If he is able to appoint the right people who can help him steer the administration in the right direction, that will actually improve the government's performance and perception of the people. But the other danger of this shake-up is that, if the President appoints traditional politicians that would help him deliver the victory for the 2028 elections, especially in the vote-rich areas...that will have an effect on the public perception towards the administration,' Oreta added. —LDF/RSJ/NB, GMA Integrated News
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