On Monday, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. presented the legislative branch with a list of bills he wants passed, some of which were already listed in the State of the Nation Address from the previous year.
The establishment of a Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control, for example, was listed as a priority in 2022 but did not receive a special mention in the president's 70-minute speech this year. The Maharlika Investment Fund and SIM Card Registration Act passed Congress despite not being named in the SONA for 2022, so a mention in the speech does not guarantee passage but does provide information about the year's top goals.
An excise tax on single-use plastics, a value-added tax on digital services, and an increase in the motor vehicle user's charge and road user's tax were at the top of Marcos' short list of priority legislation that he mentioned in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Additionally, he urged Congress to approve legislation to update the military personnel pension system, which the finance department has warned is no longer financially viable.
In an earlier part of his speech, Marcos declared, "The pension of the military and uniformed personnel is as important, urgent, and humanitarian as that of all other civilian Filipino employees," acknowledging the sensitive nature of the subject for the security industry, which might be required to contribute to the fund.
"Efforts are underway to make it fully functional and financially sustainable," he said. "We are working closely with Congress to ease the transition from the old system to the new one, so as to be able to guarantee that no effects are felt by those in the uniformed services."
Additionally, the president advocated for changes to the Cooperative Code, Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act, and Fisheries Code. He claimed that by facilitating the formation of cooperatives, farmers and fishermen will be able to increase their output and strengthen their negotiating position.
The push to establish a Department of Water Resource Management, which also appeared in SONAs made during Rodrigo Duterte's administration, is coming again in 2023.
Our efforts must be coordinated, centralized, and systematic rather than dispersed, Marcos Jr. said, adding that he hopes the new Water Resources Management Office can pave the way for the establishment of a separate water department. "Considering its fundamental importance, water security deserves our special focus," Marcos Jr. said.
The National Land Use Bill's passing and the requirement to join the Reserve Officers Training Corps were not mentioned in the SONA.
According to a BusinessMirror article, the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council placed mandatory ROTC in its list of priority bills. Not so, according to the National Land Use bill, which has been on the back burner in Congress since at least the 17th Congress.
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