]Ull.
BlASI
PUSH
TllN DUTTRTT BIllS
By Ryan Ponce
Pacpaco
HOUSEMaiorityLeader
and Leyte Rep. Martin
Romualdez yesterday
said the li:adership of
Speaker Alan Peter Cay-
etano will now go full-
blast in fast tracking the
passage oI President Ro-
drigo "Rody" Duteite's
priorit5r measures f ollow-
ing the eleclion of law-
makeis to key po8itions
in the House of Repre-
sentatives.
"We are now organized
to deliberate President
Duterte's priodty mea-
sures. The plenary has al-
readv elected our col-
leagries to the major posi-
tions," said Romualdez.
"Both Spealer Cayet-
ano arrd I gave t}re com-
mitrnent thatwe are going
to work double time. I am
elated that the newly elect-
ed Minority Leader, Pas-
tor Benny Abante, shares
the same view. With thi6
shared commitment, I
have no doubt that this
will be one of the most
productive Congresses
REP. ROMUALDEZ
ever," Romualdez said.
Cayetano said he is
committed to a proposal
creating a fuIl-fledged de-
partment to cater to the
needs of rnillions of
Filipino workers (OFWS)
and their famfies.
"Sa OFW Department
muna, ito nga ang pangal-
awang bill na binasa sa
Kongreso. In otr1 case, I ets.
have authored it wilh
[Taguig City] Congress-
womanLani Cayetanoand
Deputy Speakei Paolo
Duterte. Ito ay i6a nama-
ng paniniwala ng ating
Pargulo noong 2016 pa.
Napahrnayanko'tonoong
nasa DFA (Department of
Foreign Affairs) ako na
kahit anong malasakit ng
DFA secretary at ng Pan-
gulo sa OFW, kailangan
may isang il-charge na
nakatutok hindi lang sa
wellare and protectio&
pero pati sa makahanap
ng mas magagandang
opportunity, dapat may-
roong ahensya ng gobyer-
no na tumitingin din ng
opportunity sa abroad,"
said gayetirno.
Deputy Spealer LRay
Villfierte said the House
leadership will mal<e a big
push for the creation ofthe
Departrrent for overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs)
along with the Depart-
mentsof disasterresiliencd
(DDR) ard of water re-
sources (D\ IR) and the
approval of artother pay
hikef or govemmentwork-
Villafuerte said the
plan also includes teach-
els and nurs€s, in support
of President Duterte's call
for swift congressional
action on these initiatives
during his latest State of
the Nation Address
(soNA).
He said there is mole
reason for Congress to
write new legislation
amending theSalaryStan-
dardization Law (SSL) io
clear the way for another
pay increase,now thatthe
head of the hesident's
economic team-Finance
Secretary Carlos
Dominguez III-has re-
vealed that the government
has enough 6-mds toim-
plement another salary
adjustment.
"Thb House of Repre-
sentatives, under the lead-
ership of Spealer (AIan
Peter) Cayetano, would
make a big push for the
irnmediate consideration
of the new salary hike and
the creation of three new
departments-as en-
do$ed by President Du-
terte in his 4rh SONA-
more so now that the head
of [he state economic team
has raised neither objec-
'
tion to nor funding con-
cems over these propog
als," said Villafuerte.
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